Her Silver Knight
by bookstorekid
Summary: Bella has a bit more of a backbone than anyone gave her credit for and Paul is left on the recieving end of it. Can he show her that he is the Silver Knight that she needs?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my new story. It's a Paul/Bella. Let me know what you think **

**Bellas POV**

Finally. Edward Cullen had _finally _taken the hint that I was not going to go out with him this Saturday. Yeah sure, I had originally only said I was going in to Port Angles to get away from Mike and his weird obsession, but it turns out that I really did need the day away from here. Forks was such a small place, and nothing ever changed here. Unlike Phoenix. I just needed the day away from everyone here. They were constantly on top of each other and to be honest, it kinda freaked me out.

I mean don't get me wrong, Edward was unusually handsome, looking like he had been sculpted from the Greek Gods themselves, it was just, everything about him made me uncomfortable. He was constantly watching me, which around here isn't unusual. I _was _new after all, but his stare was predatory. Like he was waiting on me to become unaware of him and slip up. He looked ready to pounce on me, which he did, figuratively, every chance he got. It was disturbing.

I know I shouldn't judge someone before I get to know them, and I had honestly tried not to, but the fact that each and every one of the adopted children look alike, was highly unsettling. I didn't bother me that they were split into couples. They weren't actually related. It wasn't illegal. No, that didn't bother me at all, just the fact that their father figure was a doctor and they all looked alike. That and the fact that Edward had taken, what I would call, an unhealthy interest in me when they were even more reclusive than myself was off-putting.

But alas! One small victory to the out of town-er! I had successfully dodged each and every attempt Edward had made into convincing me to let him accompany me on my trip to Port Angles the upcoming weekend. It had taken almost two weeks, but he had finally gotten the hint when I'd, rather happily, swore at him. He seemed repulsed that such words were coming out of my mouth. That's right, asshole; my vocabulary is a little less than squeaky clean. I usually didn't swear, I didn't really see the point in it. But this once he had pissed me off so much with the incessant attempts at convincing me, I had simply told him to 'fuck off'. I'm not really proud of it, it was completely irrational and impolite, but it got the job done. He left me alone after that.

Angela had laughed for a solid twenty minutes when I had told her about it, causing me to join in and others to look at us like we'd lost it. She had offered, a Hell of a lot more politely might I add, to come with me, as she didn't really want to attend the dance. I had smiled at her and cryptically said that she would change her mind about that very soon. The next day, Ben asked her to the dance, even though it was a girl's pick. I confessed that I'd heard him talking to another student about asking her after gym class, when she questioned how I'd known. She was ecstatic though. As I had known she would be.

I smiled as I unlocked the front door, slipping my rain coat off, hanging it on the banister. They suited each other perfectly, even if Ang was a few inches taller than Ben. I rolled my eyes at that thought. Those few measly inches were what had stopped them from getting together already. Bloomin' fools if you asked me.

The house, of course, was empty. That was fine with me. I had gotten used to the fact that I would be coming home to an empty house, having been raised by Renée. She was so hair-brained it wasn't even funny. She forgot about absolutely everything. I sorted the bills, the housework, her work schedule and the groceries. I practically raised myself. I mean, it was nice to have her as my best friend; we talked about everything and anything when I was younger. But I needed a mother too, and she just wasn't cut out for that.

Charlie, although unused to having me here for any real length of time, was doing a Hell of a better job. He worked all the time, and I was fine with that. I wasn't about to tell him that he had to cut back the hours so he was home when I got in from school and be there in the morning before I left. _I _wouldn't be able to cope with being around him that much. We were too similar in some ways. We enjoyed the fact that neither one felt the need to fill any and all silences with mindless chatter. We were quite happy to go about doing our own things. But we did enjoy each other's company. Mainly for the same reasons. We didn't have to talk to express what we were thinking or feeling. We were book open books. Our affections to each other were shown through our actions, not through words.

He _was _home more than Renée ever was though, and the fact that he put conscience effort into being there with me, made me glow inside. I wasn't looking for all his time and attention, just a little here and there. I can honestly say that, although I hate this town, my dad was the best.

It was Wednesday today, so that meant I only had two classes with homework, which I grabbed the stuff for out my bag. I placed it on the table before rummaging in the fridge for the ingredients to make beef stroganoff. It wouldn't take all of my attention, which meant I'd be able to focus on my homework better. That and it was Charlie's favourite. It took about twenty minutes to get everything cut and prepped before finally putting in the pot to cook.

My homework was, as always, very simple. Forks worked at a much slower pace than the school I'd come from in Phoenix, so I'd already done this and the next topic in all of my classes. It was slightly insulting that I was being made to do each of the topics again, but I understood that my teachers couldn't just make up another topic just for me. Although I wish they would.

I plated up some stroganoff, before covering the pot and sticking it in the oven to keep warm for whenever Charlie got home. I added some fresh orange and a slice of tiger bread and sat to have dinner.

Speculating on the first two months since I moved here, I realised that, although I hated the weather with a passion, I genuinely liked the people. Well most of them anyway. Mike and Edward were on the black list, simply because they kept hounding me for things I had already told them 'no' to. That was something I couldn't stand. Tyler was heading to that side of my list too. Angela and Ben were the best. They were always there, both were quiet and unassuming. They _asked _things about me rather than pretending to know. They were at the top of the LIKE list. Jacob Black following closely behind. At first it was weird and slightly awkward. We'd known each other our whole lives, and spent most every summer with each other. So it was strange when he expressed some rather _friendly _feelings. We had hashed it out though, and everything was cool now. We were brother and sister for all intent and purpose.

He was also the reason I had my baby. My truck. He had found and restored it himself and then Charlie bought it from him. It had rocketed him up to almost the top of my list. My truck was perfect for me, it was a faded orangey/red. It was a force to be reckoned with and perfect for me and my clumsiness.

Clearing up my dishes, I filled the sink with warm sudsy water. I was looking forward to having the day on Saturday to myself. There were two different book stores that I wanted to visit, and immerse myself in a good book. Of a few. I smiled to myself before starting to hum. I also needed different clothes. Warmer ones. I frowned. Curse this weather to the deepest pits of Hell.

Sitting the dishes on the drainer, I wiped down the counter. Looking around I decided that the kitchen was clean. I dashed up to my room and grabbed my worn copy of Wuthering Heights from the bedside table and ambled back down to the living room. Curling up with my feet tucked under me, I leaned on the armrest of the couch, burying my nose in my all-time favourite book.

I startled out of the fantasy world within the crumpled pages of my book when the front door slammed shut. Charlie chuckled seeing me jump and mused my hair on the way past. I huffed before following him into the kitchen, beating him the oven and starting to plate up his dinner.

"Not that I'm not grateful Bells, but you're not a maid. You don't need to race in here to get my dinner before me." I grinned at him over my shoulder, placing the leftovers on the counter to cool. I set the plate on the table as he got his juice and cutlery before sitting down. I sat across from him.

"I know that. But it gives me nightmares to think about what you lived on before I got here." He just chuckled at that. Charlie was a complete failure in the kitchen, so he practically lived on take outs.

"I meant to ask, dad, is it alright if I go to Port Angeles on Saturday?" he just raised his eyebrows at me.

"Of course. You're practically a grown up Bella. You don't need to ask. Just let me know beforehand so I don't think you've gone missing or something." This time it was I who chuckled. He tried to be laid back, but he worried about me so much.

"Ok. Well I'll be gone on Saturday. Probably the whole day from early on. I need to get some warmer clothes, but I don't want to go all the way to Seattle on my own." He frowned. Shit.

"Isn't it the dance on Saturday?" damn, he must be the only father in the whole world that knew exactly when the dance was.

"Yeah but I don't dance. You should know that." He laughed. Loudly, making my face flame. Yes, Charlie knew just how accident prone I was.

"True, I suppose you should spare those poor unsuspecting victims at the dance." I glared at him.

"I'm not _that _bad dad. I only take others down with me in gym." He choked on his food, before laughing at me. I just grinned at him, kissed his forehead and headed up to bed.

**A/N: Well that's the first chapter. Bella and Paul won't come in contact for another few chapters, and yes, there are vampires and werewolves in this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all the favourites and the alerts, it means a lot **

**Bella's POV.**

Waking up way too early put me in an automatic bad mood. Add to the fact that it was hail outside and you had the worst mood possible. It only got worse when I got to school, spotting Edward waiting at the doors to the cafeteria. I had thought he'd taken the non-too-subtle hints to leave me alone. I had, clearly, been mistaken.

Marching up to the doors, with the sole intent of ignoring him completely, I was stopped by a rather large russet body planting itself on my war path. I stopped and as soon as I looked up, a giant grin spread across my face. Jake stood staring down at me with a playful grin plastered to his face. The heat radiating off of him didn't cause me alarm anymore, as apparently he was just a freak of nature that ran a toasty one-oh-eight to a one-oh-nine. I honestly wasn't complaining either way. He was hot and today, that's really all that mattered.

He opened his arms and I all but flew into them. How he could only wear a thin grey wife beater on a day like this, I didn't even want to think about. He pulled me in closer, rubbing his massive hands up and down my back, trying to heat me up.

"Thank god you're here, Jake." He looked down at me with a raised brow at my serious tone. I nodded empathically, successfully hiding my smile.

"Yeah, my portable space heater broke, and I didn't think I'd make it through the day. But it's all ok now! 'Cause you're here!" I smiled triumphantly at him and he roared with laughter, causing just about everyone to turn and look at us, but right now I couldn't care less. Jake was my best friend and this was the way I liked to see him. Edward could just go shove that hateful look up his ass. Motherfucker.

"He still bothering you?" I looked up at Jake as he tilted his head in Edwards's general direction. I nodded my head, giggling slightly at his antics. Jake was worse than any girl I knew in the gossip department. He had to get it from his dad, because he and Charlie were worse than a hall full of old woman when they got together, but Jake was a little bit more subtle than them.

I looked up at him, an idea taking shape in my head. I had really wanted to go to Port Angeles on my own on Saturday for the peace and non-staring I would have, but if I could get Edward to back the Hell off, then it was worth giving up my prized piece of privacy. Plus, Jake wasn't so bad to be around.

"Like something you see?" I dragged my eyes away from his bulging biceps, mentally calculating how much he had grown since I'd saw him last week. It had to be at least an inch. Either that or I was shrinking.

"Hmm, well that depends. You free on Saturday?" he grinned at my teasing; laughing off that this would have been awkward three weeks ago. Now it just felt like old times. The way we had been with each summer I had been here.

He hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him, earning more than just cursory glances by now, but he knew that. He was also smart enough to know that I was asking him to get Edward off my back. This was the main reason I loved Jake. He never had to be told what I was thinking, he just knew.

"I'm free for our little date on Saturday, if that's what you're asking. I'm quite looking forward to having you to myself for a whole day; I'll get to have my wicked way with you." With that he grinned, before planting his lips on mine, purely for show. It didn't bother me as much as it had done, well not now after Charlie had threatened Jake's life.

"Saturday it is then handsome!" and with that he left. I could feel the tell-tale slow burn of heat in my cheeks as I ignored everyone's stunned expressions and headed to the main doors. Which Edward was still standing in front of. His scowl looked like it would permanently crease his features if he didn't get rid of it soon. His eyes flashed the closer I got to him, and I had to repress a shudder of disgust. He really did creep me out, and it was becoming more and more noticeable that he wasn't 'just mildly interested'. He panted all over me all the time; as though I were a fucking pet. God there I go again! This… atrocity of a boy was ruining my vocabulary on a regular basis. I had to stop letting him affect me this way.

"Isabella." God how I hated that he used my full name all the time. I politely nodded, naïvely hoping that he would just leave me alone today. No such luck.

"I thought you were going to Port Angeles on Saturday, Isabella?" I stopped and turned to face him, staring slightly to the left of his eyes. They were scary as Hell those things. They should not be gold. Not even a really light shade of hazel but proper gold. It was unnatural.

"I am." Go away, the mantra just wouldn't leave my head and kept itself on replay.

"If I'm not mistaken, I also thought that you said you weren't interested in seeing anyone?" fuck off Eddie-boy.

"I'm not, _not _that it's any of your business. Good morning Edward, and if you would _kindly _move out of my way, I'll be heading to class. Which, incidentally, you should be too." That was as delicate as I was going to put it. My bad mood had come back as soon as Jake left. He was like my personal sun. Turning my back on him, I got three steps before his ice cold hand wrapped around my wrist, halting all movement.

"You should stay away from the pup, Isabella. He's very unstable." His icy breath fanned across my neck and into my ear, causing my body to recoil in revulsion. He was way too close.

"Well, it would take someone unstable to notice another that is unstable." I turned to look at him out of the corner of my eye, and he had this mutilated grin spread across his face. Suffice to say that I was really hard pressed to not start screaming about his loss of sanity.

"Fuck you Edward Cullen. Stay the mother fuck away from me." And with that, I somehow managed to jerk my arm free of his painful grip, and rushed on my way. As it was I headed to the bathrooms instead of homeroom. I couldn't let anyone see just how shaken up I was about the confrontation we had just had.

I don't know why I got so riled when Edward was around me, heaven knows I'd been through so much worse than a boy at school that had stalker-ish tendencies and an aversion to any and all competition, even if the so-called competition didn't exist. I had to pull myself together, but it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore the blaring reminder- I had to stop thinking like that.

Dragging in deep lungful's of air; I tugged at my hair, successfully distracting myself from my inner musings. This had to stop. I nodded resolutely at my reflection in the bathroom mirrors before grabbing my stuff and all out running to make it to homeroom in time for the last warning bell.

Lunch finally rolled around, and I was honestly going to start praying to whomever may be up-top and listening to my silent pleas. Jessica would just not shut up about the kiss that Jake had given me in the parking lot and then went on to rant about how much attention the reclusive Edward Cullen was giving me. Add to that the audacity I had to actually throw that attention back in his face and I was ready to sock her in the jaw. That, or have one of the football players throw her out the second story window. Or maybe both.

Whichever happened, I could not wait to get out of her presence. She was going to drive me insane with her incessant babbling, and I had no doubt that at lunch there would be some juicy gossip spread by the bitch herself. More than likely about answers to the scandalous behaviour I had given no answer to at all. Her and her minion Lauren were going to be all over this like pigs in shit.

I really needed a happy place inside my own head, before I commit murder.

Sighing, I plopped my backside into the seat beside Ben on his right, the one on his left already saved for Ang. The two of them were a match made in heaven. I decided that they would become my happy place. I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I saw the pair together. He took one look at me and swapped my apple with his brownie. I grinned at his antics, picking up the brownie slice to nibble on. Bens mom made the most delicious brownie's. Ever. I had never tasted anything like them before, and I doubt I ever would again. He winked at me and we both started laughing.

Just then Ang came over and it was clear that she had been crying. Ben jumped out his chair and wrapped his arms around her, whilst I gave the evil eye to the two giggling bitches that had walked in just after her. Lauren and Jessica. They were so dead when I got my hands on them. Happy place be damned.

"…-was just the way they said it." I looked up at Ang before raising to wrap her in a hug. I had missed what she'd said, but I knew that had anyone else said it, she would have laughed or just ignored them. But Lauren and Jess had been out to make Angela's life Hell since kindergarten.

"It's ok. They aren't worth your tears hun. They're just jealous that you're happy with someone, when the best they can ever hope to get is someone that lasts longer than an hour." She just about choked. Ben busted up laughing and soon Ang joined in. That was what I'd been hoping for. Although what I'd said was true – it was well known that those two slept with anybody they could get – I would never have said anything so crass about someone else's bed partners. Or personal life for that matter. But it had the desired effect of having lifted Angela's spirits and that's all I was aiming for. We all sat down to lunch and chatted idly about the dance and my 'date' on Saturday.

There wasn't much to say, other than we hoped the other would have good fun and being assured by the other that they would.

By the time I got home that day, I was shattered. There were last minute decorations gone missing and all this other stuff that could have gone wrong that had. Even though the school was off on tomorrow, it being Friday before the dance, the teachers were all having a mental breakdown about the possibility of things going wrong. But by the end of the day, I was in a much better mood than I had started the day in.

I kind of just floated around the house for the next two hours before Charlie got home. When he did, we had dinner then watched the game. I had to keep my eye on him to see when I should cheer and when I should look disappointed as I really had no idea what was going on. Baseball just wasn't my thing.

"Oh dad?" he glanced up at me before looking back at the screen and I had to grin.

"Jake and I are getting married on Saturday because I'm pregnant and I just thought I'd let you know that I'd be moving out." He just grunted. I just laughed and kissed his head before slowly making my way up the stairs, knowing that it wouldn't take long for what I'd said to sink in.

I was right four stairs from the top and he was hollering my name like the house was on fire.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN! GET BACK DOWN HERE!" I giggled all the way back down, before schooling my features.

"What did you just say?" the vein in his forehead was pulsing and his color was turning towards purple.

"Exactly what you heard. Jake and I are going into Port Angeles on Saturday because he's lived here longer than me and will be able to point out the best type of clothes to get." A huge gust of air left his lungs and a crease formed over his eyes.

"Oh! And that we are getting married because I'm pregnant and that I'm moving out. Was that what you were referring to?" he just looked at me. Shaking his head he scowled over at me.

"Very funny. Almost gave your old man a heat-attack kid." I raised my eyebrow the same way he does, my eyes full of the laughter I can fell building in my chest.

"Yeah, yeah; I got you. Pay more attention when the daughter is talking." That forced the laugh out of me before he turned away towards the living room and I headed back upstairs.

Quickly tidying my room, not that there was any real mess, I decided to forgo a shower tonight and take a long hot steam session in there tomorrow morning. Changing for bed, it took me no time at all to fall asleep, thoughts on Saturday playing on my mind.

**A/N: Well there we go. It will probably be about two more chapters before Bella runs into Paul. Bye x**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm terrible, I know things have been sort of hectic lately, new timetables and stuff like that for school. Add to the fact that I'm packing for my holibags in Florida, and I'm stressing like there's no tomorrow! **

**Bella's POV**

My alarm went off at seven o'clock. Why I put myself through the complete and utter torture of waking up so early on my day off, I'll probably never know. It was just one of my many strange quirks. I hated lying in.

Shrugging at my own inner monologue, I slipped out of bed grabbing a towel and my bath robe. Turning on the hot water in the shower, I slowly stripped down, before stepping under the pelting spray. Jake would be here just after half eight, which gave me an hour and a half in which to get ready.

Charlie had already left for work, which meant I didn't have to share the hot water this morning. I stood just letting the spray hit me and watch the rivulets of straggling water cascade down my body. A particularly fat droplet caught my eye, and I watched as it trailed leisurely down my body. It slid down the space between my breasts and over my flat stomach. I tried to ignore the way it paused on the uneven ridges there. It dipped into my belly button and then disappeared.

I shook my head to free myself from my sordid thoughts, repressing the memories that were desperate to break free.

Rinsing my hair out forty minutes later, a fairly decent time having been spent just soaking, I wrapped the towel around myself. Ambling back into my bedroom, I decided that I'd also try to get new covers and pillow cases and maybe even a new rug for my room. The faded canary yellow just wasn't my color. Maybe some purple. I smiled. Yeah that used to be- well, it's now my favourite color.

Wrapping my hair into the towel I opened my closet. I hummed to myself as I picked out a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and an emerald green puff blouse. Pulling on some underwear that I knew were comfortable, I dressed, slowly buttoning my shirt, my mind somewhere else.

It was odd. Today I didn't feel the need to rush; I just wanted to take things slow. Something that I hadn't wanted to do in quite a while. I glanced about the room, taking note of the perfectly made bed, the open curtains and partially open blinds. The desk that had not a single pencil out of place and finally taking in the floor. It was clear and the hard wood flooring that I had polished three days ago. Everything had a place in this room, and that was, well…acceptable.

_You never used to be like this._

Didn't I know it?

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, I saw it was nearly eight now. I bounced downstairs and shoved some pop tarts in the toaster, whilst rubbing my hair dry. Quickly grabbing the brush I'd left out from the previous morning I brushed out the tangles and threw it up in a loose ponytail.

Collecting the pop tarts, I put them on a plate and sat down at the table, still mindlessly humming to myself. I picked at the pop tarts, not really having an appetite, but knowing that I should eat something before setting out today. Knowing what Jake is like and that he has an over-abundant amount of energy would run me down faster than normal.

I was just washing up the dishes when I heard the front door open and quietly close. I frowned at the doorway, waiting for Jake to come through, even though I knew in my gut that it wasn't going to be him walking through the door. Turning the tap off slowly, I dried my hands on the towel hanging on a cabinet door before squaring my shoulders and taking a deep breath. Whatever was about to happen was not going to be pleasant.

I cautiously walked into the living room, searching the whole area carefully. I saw nothing out of place, so I went into the hall leading to the front door. I stopped stock still. There. On the floor was a smudge. It was obviously from a boot and it was too big to be Charlie's and too small to be Jacob's. I cocked my head. It was a size twelve. Charlie was a ten and Jake was a fourteen. Someone else, that shouldn't be, was in my house.

Turning quietly from the door, I headed slowly up the stairs. I wasn't going to like what I found, that I knew. I really didn't want to up here.

Carefully easing my door open I took stalk of my room. There was no one here, but they had been. There were papers strewn across the floor, clothes removed from the closet and tossed around the room. The drawers in the bedside table were pulled out and messed up. The window was open. So that was how they got out.

I slowly walked over to the drawers and bent to sniff. The sickly sweet scent hit my nose and I recoiled. It stung and brought unwelcome memories.

I scrambled away from the smell and stumbled down the stairs crashing onto the floor, having tripped over the last step. Rolling over I tried to get my breathing under control.

_He isn't here. He isn't here. It's not him._

I finally managed to pick myself up off the floor and scuttled into the living room to sit on the couch. Breathing deeply and clenching my fists. They were shaking.

I could only have been sitting there for about three minutes before I heard the front door slam open. I glanced up at the, catching the clock in my peripheral vision. 8:10. Jake wasn't due for another half hour. I shot to my feet when someone came barging through into the living room. I felt my brow furrow as I looked at him. He was tall, around 6ft 5. He had muscles in all the right places and he could have been Jake's twin. He skidded to a stop when he saw me, and I saw his nostrils flare.

I took in his chiselled jaw, straight nose, and his cheek bones. His brows were drawn low over his eyes. His eyes were dark grey, storming over each and every part of my body; checking for injury. His full body was shaking, almost vibrating. Once his eyes had safely roamed over my body, his storm grey eyes connected with mine and I felt a jolt and he took a step towards me before catching himself.

"Who are you?" his head tilted to the side, appraising me before answering.

"Paul." It was short and simple.

"Why are you here, Paul?" this time his teeth clenched and he took another step closer, seemingly unconsciously.

"You're not safe here. You need to sit and give me ten minutes and let me just…look around." My mouth went dry and my heart hammered. He knew. How could he…?

"What are you talking about?" _you know what he's talking about! _

"Bella, please. Just trust me on this." I just nodded. He nodded, taking the last step to me and touched me cheek gently before turning for the stairs. I stumbled back onto the couch,

Not ten seconds later I heard him bellowing my name. I looked at the ceiling as I stood, it only now occurring to me that he would thing I'd heard the noise of the mess being made.

I scrambled up to my bedroom as fast as I could and found him standing outside the door, his whole frame blurring around the edges he was shaking that hard. I stopped at the top step, eyeing him warily. He seemed dangerous like this.

"You've been in there, little girl. Who was here?" his voice was so low I could feel it vibrate through the floor boards. Goose bumps crawled across my skin in fear. I opened my mouth and closed it a few times, probably looking like a fish out of water.

"I don't know." Just a whisper that he shouldn't have been able to hear, but somehow had. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, his eyebrows pulling over his eyes darkly.

"You need to come with me." His hand dropped behind him and he grabbed the handle to the door and slammed it shut.

I jumped at the harsh sound, my heart hammering. There was something…decidedly unsettling about Paul. His eyes were locked on me, waiting on my compliance.

"I c-can't. I'm waiting for J-" he cut me off with a growl.

"Jacob can wait. You're coming with me." I opened my mouth again to dispute that Jake most definitely could _not _wait, and that I wasn't going with someone whom had just stormed into my home and demand that I leave with him. Regardless of the fact that he was right, somewhat. I wasn't safe here, but he shouldn't know that.

"Right now, little girl. Let's go." He came toward me and I stumbled back from him, effectively toppling off the stairs. I felt his finger grab for my wrist, but he just missed.

Scrunching my eyes shut, I waited for the impact of the floor, for a second time today, and when it came, it wasn't to the surface I had expected. I slammed into something warm, as in _really _warm, and solid. Arms wrapped around me and held me up. I opened my eyes to see Jakes worried face looking own at me, the crease between his eyes becoming more prominent when I squeezed myself closer into the tiny space left between our bodies.

His arms crushed my tiny body to his huge one, before pulling me protectively behind him when Paul came clattering down the stairs. When he saw Jake his lips twisted into a sneer and his posture became aggressive. Well, _more _aggressive than it already was.

"What the fuck are you doing here Paul?" so Jake and Paul were not strangers. Paul's look of utter disgust was both horrifying and intriguing. His shaking had started up again, and it in turn made Jake shake like mad.

"Use your pathetic, meagre amount of smarts, Black. She's not _safe_ here! We need to leave." When Jake only continued to gaze at him in confusion, Paul slammed past him, scooping me up in his arms, and storming out the front door. I squeaked in protest but his searing glare kept me quiet.

"Hey! Put her down! What the Hell are you talking about Paul?" Jake came scrambling after us as Paul marched into the forest behind my house.

"One of them was in her room. _While _she was in the house. Now shut up and get Sam." I think I was going to be sick. What did he mean _one of them_? What did Sam have to do with anything?

Jake grabbed Pauls arm, halting his steps. I was still cradled to his chest, and he was being, surprisingly, gentle with me. I looked over Pauls shoulder and up into Jakes concerned face. I smiled slightly at him, feeling like it was me he was worried about more than anything. His grim expression didn't waver, but he let go of Pauls arm.

"If you hurt he-"a ferocious growl ripped from Paul, and my heart lurched.

"You'd do well to keep thoughts like that about me and my imprint to yourself, _Black._" Jake jumped away from him like he'd been electrocuted and the pain on his face had him looking like someone had set him on fire.

"Imprint?" it was a broken whisper, scaring me more than all the yelling had.

"Piss off Jacob and get Sam. We'll be at my place." And with that, Paul began to run into the woods. His speed was astounding, the wind whipping my ponytail into my face and neck and nipping at my face.

The sight of everything blurring past me was making me nauseous. I closed my eyes and tucked my head into Pauls shoulder, feeling his chest rumble in approval as he pulled me impossibly closer. His scent was amazing. Dark and earthy, with cinnamon spice and salt water. And something distinctly _male_. It made me feel safe. His steady heartbeat was soothing and was slowly taking away my anxiety, letting me notice that although he was running at great speed, and carrying me, his breathing never changed and his heart rate stayed the same.

Eventually he slowed to a walk and I peeked up from his chest. We were approaching a house, with slightly peeling paint and surrounded by nothing but woodland. It was a beautiful two story red house, almost the same as Jakes except this one had two floors and was undeniably larger. It was nestled into a little grove out of the trees, with green surrounding it on all sides. It had a subtle air of danger surrounding it and, although only having just met Paul, I could tell that this was the place he spent most of his time. Close to nature, allowing him some peace from human contact.

I hadn't even noticed that we had reached the porch, until the front door banged open and he walked inside. He held me to him the whole time, even as I imitated a mere cat and stuck my head up as far as it could go to get a better look around.

Everything was in disarray as far as I could see in the hall, and the stairs going up didn't seem to be in much better shape. However, as we moved into the living room, it was a whole different story. It was nicely furnished, with two older styles looking triple couches placed against different walls, with a brand new T.V. and surround sound system, as well as an x-box, Wii and PlayStation 3. The large fireplace was the main attraction, well for me anyway. It had obviously been made by hand, as it was just dinner plate sized stones arranged and placed to make and arch coming out of the wall. It sort of looked like a mini cave in his living room.

He was redoing the place. I already liked what I saw, not only because it was strange and beautiful, but because it already looked lived in.

Paul placed me gently onto one of the couches and stepped back to look down at me. We stared at each other for an infinite amount of time, while I debated on asking him the burning question.

"What is an imprint?"

**A/N: Hopefully that made up for my atrocious lack of updating. I hope everyone's summer has kicked off to a good start. I know mine hasn't as it's pouring with rain. Again. Byes guys **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey I don't usually do this, but thanks so much for all of the reviews, but especially to MartaS for the longest review in history. I appreciate all the reviews I get, as they honestly make my day, but this one had me smiling for days. I would also like to say thank you for guessing about what happened to Bella before she moved to Forks. Anyway…**

**Bella's POV**

"_What is an imprint?"_

His shoulders tightened, his gaze on me becoming harsh under his dark brows, his eyes unreadable. My breath caught, remembering him in his fit of anger earlier. He was dangerous. Jake had thought he might hurt me, but Paul was adamant that he wouldn't. Because of this 'imprint'.

"Paul?" he huffed before spinning away from me to face the fire place.

"It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with little girl." My teeth ground together, no longer hearing Pauls rough sinful voice.

"_Oh, look at the pretty little girl."_

Shaking my head furiously, I repressed the horrified shudder before snapping at the still oblivious Paul.

"Don't call me that!" he spun around at my sharp tone. I repressed the urge to slap a hand over my mouth. Dangerous, Bella, _dangerous._ He raised one brow, as though entertaining a petulant child. It only succeeded in angering me further.

"And why not, little girl?" now he was just trying to egg my anger. I wouldn't rise to it.

"My name is Bella." He already knew, he'd used my name earlier, but he just wasn't going to use it now that he knew that it annoyed me.

"I know that little girl." Ugrh!

"Then use it!" he just chuckled darkly, but it really bothered me.

"Who was in your room?" well he sure got straight to the point when he wanted to.

"I don't know." I whispered, looking at my lap. He shouldn't know. He shouldn't have been there in the first place, but he should just have thought that I had a really messy bedroom.

"I don't believe you, little girl." I jumped and let out a squeak when he whispered right in my ear. I was off the couch in a flash, my heart pounding. I couldn't stay here, not with the way he was acting around me. Putting my nerves on edge didn't even cover it; I was a nervous wreck, just waiting to break down by now. There was something not right about Paul.

"Where you goin', little girl?" he was toying with me now, knowing that I was ridiculously uncomfortable around him.

"I need to lea-!" I didn't even finish the sentence before he was grabbing my arms, tugging me closer to his body. Further from the door, I realised. I tried to tug out of his hands, but he was strong. Too strong, I noted dejectedly. And hot. Like Jake. It felt like his touch was burning me where his hands touched me. It was a horrible feeling.

"You, are not going _anywhere _until I say so." His whole being surrounded me, and I panicked. He _was _going to hurt me, just like-

"Get the fuck off of her!" the furious shout scared the living daylights out of me, and mildly surprised Paul. He glared over the top of my head, seemingly subconsciously squeezing his hands together in frustrated anger. Which. Like a domino effect, pinched painfully around my upper arms. I squeaked out in pain, and in a second, Jacob had pushed Paul clear halfway across the room. I stood trembling in fear and anticipation – for what, I couldn't say – behind a heaving Jacob.

Jake's hands were clenched into tight fists, them shaking violently by his sides while he stared down Paul, who was mirroring Jakes stance. Pauls lip pulled back in a sneer and Jake went for him. Fists started flying and in my stunned state of mind I just stood there. The sound of flesh on flesh finally became too much for me and snapped me out of my horrified trance.

I slowly started backing away from the fighting boys, towards the door. As soon as I felt the cool air of outside on my legs, I turned and ran. Bolting down the steps and straight into the forest was probably not the smartest thing I'd done in a while, but I knew these woods, it was where I disappeared to for peace and some form of sanctuary.

Unfortunately, I hadn't been to this part yet.

I was completely lost, but my fight or flight instinct had kicked in, and there was no way in Hell I was stopping now. Despite being slightly clumsy, I was pretty fit. I had a decent pace going and, my lungs were working the way they should when one was running as if for her life.

I honestly had no idea in which direction I had begun running and no idea as to where I should be going. So it came as a complete shock when, around half an hour later, I began recognising the area around me. It was about a ten minute jog from Charlie's place. I felt a small smile spread over my lips as I puffed in and out. I slowed down to a walk, dragging in the lungful's of much needed air. I slowly took note of the state I was in. my jeans were caked in mud and I had a few scratches from running through the trees, but other than that I was miraculously still intact and half decent looking. Not at all how I felt. My heart hadn't stopped pounding since Paul had gotten way too close, my palms were sweaty and my head spun.

Not only that, but I was shell shocked at Jake's behaviour. I'd never seen that side of him, and truthfully, that scared me more than Paul. I knew _first-hand_ that people didn't show their true colors. Not until they wanted to, and the fact that my gently giant even possessed a violent bone in that massive body of his, shook me to the bone.

I could see the house from here, and I blew out a breath. I felt safer being closer to someplace I knew inside-out and back to front. Trotting up the steps, I realised Jake must have locked the door, and it refused to open when I tried the handle. Stretching above my head, I frantically patted around for the spare key, grasping it tightly in my hand when my fingers found it.

As soon as I opened the door, I remembered my room. How I could have forgotten, I shook my head. In the madness that is Paul was how I'd forgotten. Jake and I had only made plans to go to the beach today, even though we were going to go out tomorrow. I sighed thinking of how today should have panned out instead of this mess.

Locking the door and hitting the alarm system that is never really on in this place, I kicked off my shoes before neatly placing them at the bottom of the stairs to take up with me later.

Sighing I headed to the kitchen to get floor cleaner and trash bags for the things that were, undoubtedly, broken in my room.

Cleaning took all morning and most of the afternoon. My room was in more of a state that I had first thought and putting everything back into its rightful place took hours. Eventually everything was where it should be and the three trash bags were outside. Looking at the time, I saw it was already four o'clock. I decided just to go ahead and start making dinner before taking a nap.

Disturbingly, throughout that whole time frame, only one thing was on my mind. Paul.

**A/N: Done. Don't hate me for the piss poor explanation Paul gave her about imprinting, it's his style. That and I have a better way for her finding out later on. MartaS I hope that satisfies your selfishness as I'm posting on holiday bye guys xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Miss me? No? Oh well never mind then *grins***

**Bella's POV**

The alarm screeching was what jolted me from some really disturbing dreams. For a few seconds I was completely oblivious as to what had woken me and then as to what could possibly be making such an ear-splitting sound. Once it dawned on me that it was the alarm, I could literally _feel _my heart rate pick up. I shot up off the bed and stumbled slightly as I landed about a foot from the edge.

Slowly the sound of muffled cursing made its way upstairs and to my ears. I heaved a sigh and hurriedly made my way to the front door to rescue Charlie from the incessant screaming. My socked feet padded silently across the wooden flooring and, obviously, surprised Charlie. For as soon as I tapped him on the shoulder, he spun around hand reaching for his gun. I could almost see my reflection in his eyes, and I could definitely see my eyes widen in horror. I knew it was an automatic instinct in him, he _was _a cop after all, but it still made my palms sweat.

_He won't hurt you._

I stood my ground, for once listening to the voice inside my head. I _knew _Charlie wouldn't hurt me, and I didn't want him to know that for one traitorous second I had even considered that he would. It would crush both of us.

"Bells!" the surprise mixed with relief made me relax. He thought I was an intruder. Well that was reasonable, I told myself, trying to still my shaking hand.

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that." His posture eased, as did mine. He smiled a little at me and shucked me under the chin. I scowled playfully at him, not minding in the least that he was trying to make me feel better.

"Here. Let me shut this off." I reached around him and punched in the code to stop the wretched alarm squawking. Once it was silent that air surrounding us became tense.

I looked up at Charlie to find him looking at the keypad for the alarm system and I could fairly see the cogs turning in his head.

"You alright?" he asked without looking at me. He knew I wasn't and I knew that. There was no point in lying to Charlie, he didn't get to be the police chief without being good at what he did. Regardless of how little he actually put those skills into practice.

"Not really." I took a deep breath and shuffled closer to him, letting him wrap his arms around me. Charlie was safe, he had always protected me.

"I saw Jake fight."

I felt Charlie start in surprise at what I'd said. He knew how I felt about violence. I also knew what he thought about Jake.

"I know that boys fight, I really do, and it's just…just that it's _Jake!_ Not only that but he…he was good Charlie." I looked up at him, my eyes brimming with tears. Charlie's face just looked horrified.

"He was really good." He made a little clucking noise, low in his throat, a soothing noise as he gently rocked me back and forward.

"He scared me." Just a whisper, but it felt like I had screamed it from the rooftop. I didn't want to be scared of Jake, I loved him too much, but that was the truth. Seeing him punching Paul, seeing his face twist into something that equated to _satisfaction_ each time he landed a punch made my gut twist in terror. That made the tears spill over. And soon I was sobbing into Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie held me and let me cry until I couldn't stand it anymore. Sucking in a few deep breathes I pulled away, scrubbing my face with my sleeve.

He gave me a tentive smile, tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and walked away. Taking a couple of minutes to organise myself, I reset the alarm and locked up the door.

Charlie was in the kitchen plating up dinner when I felt composed enough to move. He shook his head at me as I went for cutlery and I subsided, letting him look after me for once. I plunked down onto the hard wooden seat at the table and cradled my chin with a cupped hand. Seeing Charlie bustle around the kitchen made me wonder why he hadn't tried to find anyone after Renée left. I mean, he was a wonderful guy. He was responsible, caring, funny, hard-working, good-looking, respectable and he was…well just all round brilliant. He wouldn't have any trouble finding himself a woman that would appreciate everything he had to give.

"What you thinking about so hard over there?" his voice broke me out of my musings and I gave a startled laugh. He just raised his eyebrows at me and I flushed crimson and shook my head. After-all, it wasn't really any of my business.

We ate in silence for a while but I caught the glances that he kept throwing me across the table. I finally plucked up the courage to ask him about it.

"It's just…why was there never anyone after Renée left?" he froze searching my face, finding nothing but honest curiosity. He put his fork down.

"When she left, it tore a piece of my heart out and she took it with her. I'd loved her since we were children, toddlers really and for a long time I couldn't even imagine someone else where she should be. By my side. We had always been together. Not as romantics or anything like that, not for a long time into our teens. But once we did 'get together'," I smiled at his terminology there.

"it was fantastic. Nothing else mattered other than our lives together. But we were young and careless. We didn't take the right time, do it the right way and things went downhill from there." He paused and the smile on my face vanished. Charlie so very rarely spoke about his feelings, that it felt like a monumental moment.

"When she left, she made me a promise. That she would never come back. What we had between us was amazing but what we wanted were two different things. I wanted to stay here in the town that we'd grown up in, have a family-which had already started because we had a beautiful little girl- but Renée didn't want that. She wanted to go out and see the world. So she left and took my baby girl with her. I became depressed." He paused and looked away from me and I could feel the tears burning at the corner of my eyes. No one had ever told me what had happened.

"That phase lasted so long that once I got over it and managed to move past the fact that she wasn't ever going to come back to me, I just didn't want to try to look for someone else. So I focused on being a good policeman and as good a dad as I could." He smiled fondly, as did I, but he wasn't looking at me. I knew why. I knew what happened next.

"I thought I was doing really well, you know having the massive distance between us and all that. But I got to see my baby for a whole summer every year, and it made me the happiest man alive to know that she was excited to come and see me. That she wanted to spend the summer here. And more." He chuckled and I gave a watery smile, the tears having silently poured over and were now running down my cheeks. It felt like there was something in my throat and my chest was too tight, because I knew, I _knew,_ what was coming.

"And then, three years ago…she died. My little girl, only fourteen, died. Just gone. That was the first summer that Izzy never visited. I was…distraught. I couldn't seem to get past the fact that my daughter had been murdered. And I wasn't allowed to tell anybody. I was police chief of a small remote town, that made me and my house a safe house, for people that needed protection for whatever reason. I didn't like it but I understood." He looked at me and I quickly looked away. I hated myself for bringing this up. I should have left it alone. I hated that he had suffered like this and that he continued to do so. But most of all, I hated that I had to pretend to be his dead daughter.

"And then…four months later, I get a phone call, being told that there was a girl, the same age as my Izzy, that needed protection. She'd lost everything and everyone. Her home and her family were gone, taken from her in the most brutal way. And I was angry; I'm not going to lie. How could they expect me to be ok with taking in a stranger and pretending she was my daughter? So, in a fit of anger I flew to phoenix where they were with Renée and the girl. And as soon as I laid eyes on her, I knew that I could.

She'd been through months of torture, this fourteen year old girl, trying to protect her little sister. She didn't know why they wanted her and she didn't ask, she just kept silent. And she endured and she suffered and she, in that moment, that single second that I saw her, became my daughter." I had my fists clenched and my breathing was erratic, my anger at the whole situation boiling as if set on fire. But love flowed through me.

"I remember spending time with her, trying to get her to talk to me. She wouldn't. She never said a thing. She never asked for anything. She had no preferences, no likes and dislikes. She never cried, she never smiled, got angry or laughed. She just…existed. And it broke my heart. She was this little thing that had seen too much, been put through something too horrible, but she had survived. And, apparently, that was the problem." He touched my hand and it relaxed out of its stiff fist.

"I was ecstatic that day, when you started screaming at me. My first thought was that I was finally getting a normal reaction from you. Until what you'd screamed had sunk in and I just wanted to die. I had no idea the depth of your love for your sister, no idea that even under no stress or pressure, that you would simply lay down your life for hers. I don't know why; maybe it was because you were so young or maybe since I'm an only child I didn't understand how the sibling bond works, just that it surprised me so much that I couldn't speak. And you burst into tears. It was so bad I thought you were going to choke. And you cried for hours. You kept crying even after you'd fallen asleep in my arms, and in that moment, I loved you. Like I did with Izzy. The way a father loves his daughter." He tugged on my hand and I slid out of my seat and around into his lap, where he held me, like he had so many times three years ago.

"And then, two months before the summer visit, you called me 'Dad'." He looked down at me and I smiled at him, remembering with him.

"I was speechless. It was something I had wanted you to say to me from that first day you spoke. And then you got scared thinking you'd done something wrong. I had you say it five more times after that just so I could hear it." His smile was so bright and full of love that I felt my anger slip away. I laughed.

"It was six dad. And then you whistled, terribly might I add, for the next two weeks straight." I cringed remembering that.

"Well yeah, but anyway. The reason there was nobody after Renée was because I had you and I enjoy looking after you. It makes me happy to see you happy." I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I love you dad." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"You too kid, you too. Now off to bed. I'll call Billy and cancel Jake for tomorrow for you, say you caught a cold running through the forest," I must have looked sceptical.

"I saw your shoes, and I know what you're like with stuff like that. Now on you go. Bed." He give me a hug then pushed me up and I happily went. I knew the nightmares would come again, after talking about what had happened. I knew I'd see each and every cut he made on me and as morbid as it was, I also knew that those wouldn't bother me. It would be the ones that he made on _her _that would haunt me.

**A/N: I'm scared. This was my plan all along, but now I'm not sure. You seemed to like the mystery, and really, I'm only giving away the tiniest part of it. Let me know please? Love you guys! *smiles shakily* xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well…nobody has hunted me down (so far) and tried to kill me for the twist in the last chapter, so I take it you all liked it then?**

**Bella's POV**

I woke in the middle of the night with the images of pale white flesh, crimson drops and shinning knives, a scream stuck in my throat. The cold sweat poured off my body and gave me chills while I tried to calm my frantic heart-beat. It had been almost two years since I had a nightmare like that.

The echo of crying and begging and pleading. It made bile rise in my stomach. How I wanted that bastard to pay for what he had done. That taunting lilt to his voice that made my teeth hurt and my muscles tense.

Shaking my head to try and clear away the haunting thoughts, I checked the time on my alarm clock. The bright red numbers declaring it just after three o'clock. I groaned. There was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep now. Shuffling out of bed, I grabbed a pair of sleep socks to put over the top of my normal ones to keep my feet warm. Slippers just weren't my thing. I grabbed a knitted three quarter-length cream sleeved cardigan to put over my t-shirt and shorts. The house was cold at this time and I didn't want to be freezing. Slipping silently downstairs so as not to wake Charlie, I thought about what had happened yesterday.

Whoever had been in my room; was part of a gang or something along those lines going by Paul's words. _One of them._ Did that mean that Jake and his friends were the rival gang then? A case of us and them? It would certainly explain why Jake was such a good fighter. Paul just looked like someone you expected to be able to fight.

I sat on the counter in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee to brew.

If they were part of a gang, was it safe for me to be going out on my own? I had obviously been 'targeted' because I knew Jake. I snorted at my speculations. There was no gang activity anywhere near Forks or La Push, and I would know. It was the sort of thing I had first asked Charlie before I came here for the first summer.

Each year Charlie did tabs on the gang activity in the local area. Which equated to zero, since there was none. It made me feel better. Safer. He would have told me if anything else had happened.

But surely Jake would have told me he was in a gang. I mean, perhaps he was sworn to secrecy, but he could tell me _something_ about the opposition. Like the ones with weird contacts, or hair-cuts or jackets or even tattoos.

That thought brought me up short. Jake had a tattoo on his upper bicep. It was a tribal thing he had said when I asked about it. It was just plain black but now that I thought about it, it had two wolf shapes at the top, howling towards the direction of the sky. My heart plummeted as I realised I had subconsciously noticed that Paul had the same tattoo. In the same place.

I thought I might throw up. How many more of the Rez boys had I paid enough attention to, to see if they had the tattoo? Not many, Jake preferred to be here, the woods or the beach. I could feel my face scrunch in concentration as I tried to picture some of Jake's friends. Quill and…Em…EMBRY! That was his two closest friends. I sighed in frustration as I realised they always wore sleeved tops. I had never seen their upper arms. Which probably meant they didn't have it. Jake made no attempt at hiding his away, so why would the others? Paul had a black wife-beater on – no sleeves. So I could only guess that he didn't hide his either.

I jumped up to get some coffee, trying to sort through the different emotions raging in my mind. I wouldn't be able to take much more of this. I needed Jake. He kept me same and sort of happy. I wouldn't be able to handle if he were in a gang, knowing that he hurts people. I just couldn't.

I slumped into the couch trying to take my mind off of things when I heard a low buzzing. Frowning I looked around the living room to see if anything would be buzzing. There was nothing. The buzzing had stopped but I still stood there looking around. Whatever it was buzzed again once then went silent.

It dawned on me then. My cell did that when I got a text. And it would be on the floor in my room charging, which put it almost directly above my head.

I made my way upstairs and grabbed my cell before silently stomping down the stairs. If this was Renée I was gonna flip. I know there is a time difference but come on! This was ridiculous. I propped my feet up on the table and checked the number. Not Renée. Not Jake either, nor Ang or Ben. It was a number I didn't recognise. Which worried me. Who would have my number and would send me a text at three in the morning?

_Sorry for scaring you beautiful x_

That was all it said. No name, no other explanation. Just that. I felt a chill spread through me. Who on earth would be texting me this?

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" I shrieked and jumped off the couch. Charlie started laughing, helping me off the floor where I'd landed. I glared at him, my heart pounding.

"That's not funny! But yeah, I can't sleep." He hugged me to him, silently rubbing my arm in comfort. Now would be a good time to ask about Jake but I just couldn't bring myself to find out. I, stupidly, would rather play the innocent ignorant card. But I wouldn't be, I would be keeping an eye on the situation around him and me for that matter.

"Dad, can you run a check on this number? I think it might have been sent to the wrong person but I want to check." He glanced at me and nodded, obviously seeing how riled I was. I read him the number and he copied it down.

"I'll run it and see what I get." he checked his watch before heaving himself off the couch.

"I gotta run. You have fun today and try to put Jake out your mind. I'm sure it'll pass." I nodded but with all the speculation from earlier, I highly doubted that would happen.

I saw Charlie to the door before deciding on making breakfast which I decided would be pancakes and a breakfast muffin. Setting about the baking helped calm me down. Cooking was always something that I loved to do, and it was one of the few things I continued to do after moving.

Sitting at the table after eating, I concluded it wouldn't be wise to ask Jake about the gang. I ground my teeth. I couldn't help but worry about him though, he was my best friend. I grimaced. Ok, yes, things right now were sticky, but that was only on my part.

I huffed, angry at myself. Jake hadn't been violent until Paul had gotten rough with me. Surely that meant he was only trying to protect me? And he didn't know the truth about my past, so he wouldn't know, wouldn't _understand_, how seeing him fight would affect me. I smiled. That had to be it. Jake had been there for me and helped with the shyness issues I have and he was protective of me.

He loved me.

As I loved him.

I smiled, thinking of him. He really was my sun all round. He kept me happy and helped me. Like with Edward. I scrubbed a hand over my face. I had to talk to him, as much as I was reluctant to do so. He deserved to understand that violence terrified me, more than was normal for any one person. How could I blame him for unknowingly scaring me, by protecting me?

At the moment sun slithered in through the window, tendrils of heat creeping up my arm. I perked up straight away. It seemed there would be some nice weather for today, which meant I would be able to soak up the vitamin D. I could feel my spirits lifting as I skipped up the stairs to my room to get dressed. Hopefully the sun would continue to shine during my shopping trip. I was becoming excited again at the prospect of getting some me time and setting things straight with Jake. Pulling a cardigan over my light comic t-shit, I all but bounced down the steps and into the living room to check the time. It was seven fifteen but with the poor speed my truck had it would take over an hour to reach Port Angles. So it wasn't too early to leave right now. Grabbing up my bag and slipping on my converse, I tossed my keys it the air before catching them with a giant smile on my face.

As opened the door and let out a scream seeing him standing there. Scowl firmly in place he looked down at me his eyes smouldering. My heart beat unsteadily in my chest and my breathing changed.

"What are you doing here Paul?" I resisted the urge to clear my throat to get rid of the suddenly husky edge to it. I peered up at him and he slowly smiled, one I could see many girls falling for. That shocked me out of my inner musings and I noticed his hand lift. It took me some time to realise what he held in his hand.

A cell phone.

My heart stopped and my eyes snapped to his.

"You didn't answer my text, beautiful." Oh. My. God!

**A/N: Really just a little bit of a filler I suppose. Out early for my amazing readers *smiles* love you guys!3 xxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey, so yeah, got nothing to say this time. Weird huh?**

**Bella's POV**

Oh God please not this. Why him? What did he want? How did he even get my number? Shaking my head slowly back and forth, I gazed at him with a puzzled expression on my face. This wasn't the same Paul I met yesterday. This one had a sort of mellow simmering anger instead of a full out aggressiveness that he displayed before.

Well, I didn't want to inform him that I'd received his text, because that would insinuate that I'd neglected to answer him on purpose. Not that I wouldn't have, but keeping in mind the way his anger seemed to violently burst forth from nowhere, I didn't want him to think I had ignored him because it was…well _him_.

So when in doubt, play dumb.

"I didn't get a text." I'm sure the puzzled look on my face helped my lie along, because I couldn't really lie convincingly when the person I was lying to was scrutinizing my every facial twitch.

"Oh? I would have thought you did, little girl." My teeth ground together. Ok, so I'd pissed him off and he had resorted to name calling. How mature.

"Well I never. So whomever you did manage to text will probably be texting you back, unless of course they don't know it's you. It's not really anything to do with me." He just raised a brow, staring down at me with his head cocked slightly to the side. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not so I tried to beat him to the punch.

"What did you mean to text me anyway?" the indecision that flashed in his eyes made me want to laugh. He wasn't so tough now, face to face. There was no way this guy was going to apologise to my face. He shrugged, confirming what I'd thought already.

"To find out when you were leaving and needed your bag boy." I just about choked on the air I had just breathed in. He said WHAT? Bag boy? As in, he was going to accompany me shopping, and –by given title- carry any bags that I happened to acquire? I just gaped up at him.

"I'm sorry?" he just chuckled leaning behind me to pull the front door closed. I jumped forward, lightly touching him, to avoid the door hitting me on the ass. My face flamed, feeling his muscles ripple at the light contact.

"That's ok, little girl. I'm sure you can tell me how Jake managed to give me the wrong number on the drive." I was going to KILL him when I got my hands on him. What had he been thinking, giving this baboon my cell number? He was out of his ever loving mind.

"Maybe he didn't want you texting me." It was such a flat response that it surprised even myself. Paul stopped to look down at me pensively.

"Perhaps he's scared of some competition." There was a growl behind those words, and it made my chest cavity tighten. Even when he was being 'nice', he was still dangerous.

"I hardly see the two of us becoming best friends. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be." With that I skirted around him, heading toward me truck, keys firmly in hand. I was three, THREE, steps from the drivers' door when his massive hands clamped around my waist, halting me instantly.

My heart beat kicked up, and fear trickled through my blood stream. I had pushed too far.

"Oh no, little girl. He's scared of much more than that." He leaned down, lightly grazing his teeth over the bare skin at my neck. My stomach clenched involuntarily and the motion moved me forward, away from his teeth.

"Please don't do that." I couldn't seem to force enough air into my lungs, and I could feel my hands shaking.

Paul reared back from me, his hands dropping as if I'd slapped him. Without his hands on me, I almost stumbled before regaining my balance and turned to face him. He had a look of deep concentration on his face, his hands lightly grasping at air, where I'd been standing two seconds ago. He looked at my face, confused before letting the mask slip back into place.

"Skittish are we, little girl?" if he was going to tease me, I was gonna snap. I couldn't take much more of him.

I had to get him to leave me alone.

"Look Paul, I don't know what kind of kick you get out of terrifying me, but be assured, you've gotten it for today. I'm going shopping for some peace and quiet, to have time to myself and enjoy the sun. You can come back tomorrow to terrorize me, just go away." My hands were shaking, and I was scared. I didn't want to be here with him alone, especially now, but I just wouldn't make it through the day if I had to be near him the whole time.

His face showed the shock he felt at my words, and I waited with bated breath from him to do…something that I undoubtedly wouldn't like. Instead something I couldn't determine flashed across his face and he took a step back from me. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, staring at my face the whole time.

"I'll go, but stay in touch with someone Bella. It's not safe for you to be out on your own." I nodded, astounded that he agreed to just go away without something more forceful being required.

"I will." He nods, before rushing forward and cupping my chin in his large hand. I froze, my fear paralysing me.

"Keep your day empty tomorrow. You promised me a full day date." With that he smirked, ran his thumb over my bottom lip and left.

Shit.

Stumbling away into the truck, I stilled my quivering hands. This was not good. Not only would I have to spend the whole day with him tomorrow, now he was going to be constantly on my mind during my shopping trip today. I just couldn't fathom why he hadn't made more of a demand from me. He seemed like the one that would always want control, to be in charge.

The roaring of my truck pulled my thoughts back.

I was surprised at myself. I was sitting here making judgements on someone I didn't even know. Other than knowing his name and number, and that he could be viciously violent, I knew nothing about him. I scolded myself. What gave me the right to make assumptions like that?

I listened to a rock station on the drive to Port Ang, just nodding along with the thumping bass. The further from Forks I got the more my thoughts dwelled. I couldn't stop the image of Pauls shocked face out of my mind. The more I thought about it, the more pronounced a niggling pain in my chest became. I scoffed at myself. How could I ever dream of wanting to go back and hunt him down, just to see him again? I didn't even know him!

Maybe that was the problem though. I had already made assumptions about his character and so far, this morning, he had proved most of them wrong. Maybe what I really wanted to ease my curiosity for him. I smiled in relief. That sounded much more plausible.

Parking the truck, I snatched up my purse and headed to the little book store right on the corner. Pushing open the door, the sweet scent of pomegranate permitted the air and I sucked in a contented breath. It was sort of like going away on a long vacation and coming home. Comforting, soothing and peaceful. I could feel the tension easing out of my shoulders. A slow smile spread over my face. This was just what I needed. And not a single other person was in the front of the store.

I spent the better part of an hour in the isles, scanning tittle after tittle, not really finding anything of interest. I did pick up a few new cook books though, just to broaden the horizon. Stepping out into the warmish air, I looked up at the clear blue sky, and couldn't stop the smile from spreading into a grin. It was just so…pretty.

My purse vibrated and I dug out my phone, trying not to frown at it. I had three new text messages.

_Don't be mad at me. I didn't know what to do when he asked for your number. I'll see you later? –Jake xx_

I just couldn't be mad at him now. Of course he didn't know what to do. Who would ever have imagined that Paul would want my cell number? And obviously, this 'imprint' nonsense had something to do with it too. No siree, I didn't forget about that. I typed a quick message back telling him to come over for dinner tomorrow and that we'd talk then. No point in putting off the inevitable.

The other two messages were from Paul.

_You seemed skittish this morning little girl, was it my big bad influence over you? Try not to trip and die, we have a date tomorrow. – Paul._

I tried really hard not to grit my teeth over that one, but it didn't work. He just managed to infuriate me at every turn today. I huffed indignantly in the middle of the street, even though he wouldn't be able to see me.

_Text me back, little girl. You promised to stay in touch._

Which I did but, a grin slid over my face as I text him back.

_That I did. I never said it would be with you._

Childishly with that, I did a little skip and went on my way.

I floated in and out of different shops, not really picking anything out, until I went into a little vintage clothing store. I don't know what made me do it, it's not somewhere I had shopped since…well since _before._ It just drew me in, like a moth to a light. I absently looked through all sorts of outfits until I came across a lilac lace ruffle skirt. I cocked my head, considering it before holing it against my body. It would look good. Slinging it over my arm, I kept on.

At the other side of the store, I found a cream cashmere top with banded straps and sea green details in the shape of leaves. I held the two items together and noted that you couldn't see through the top. Before I changed my mind, I went to the till and paid for them, and almost scurrying out of there.

I suddenly didn't fell like doing anymore shopping and walking into the other book store. It was more a tribal place and what caught my attention right away was the hand carved wooden wolf, about eight inches tall, sitting on the desk. Its head was raised back and it was howling at an invisible moon. The detail on it was just magnificent, it stole my breath.

"It's a work of art, don't' you agree?" and old withered woman asked, coming into my line of sight from what was presumably that back room.

"It is. It's just magnificent. Magical." She nodded, seemingly pleased at my incapability to form the correct description.

"Yes, one of the tribal boys carved it for me a few months back. He's very talented. Did this in his spare time." She chuckled and I smiled along with her. Hesitantly, I crept closer, gently running the tip of my index finger over the carving. So beautiful.

"Does he do many of them?" she looked at my face, her old wise eyes sparkling in delight.

"Yeah. He carves in his spare time, something about the calming influence of _creating_ something." I nodded absently, still tracing every bump and ridge with my finger tip.

"Tell you what, young one. You have this, and the next time he's here, I'll tell him he should start selling them, if people are going to be just as entranced as you." I jerked up, shamefaced.

"Now, now. Don't you go get all shy on my now girl. And don't you refuse either. You take this home and keep it somewhere safe. It deserves someone that can appreciate it." With that she bagged it and handed it across the counter.

I grinned at her happily.

"Thank you so much! Thank you, just wow, it's beautiful." With that I left with a spring in my step. I stopped for lunch at a little café and pulled my cell out my purse. Paul had text me twice.

_Oh little girl, you're playing with fire. If you're not careful you'll get burnt babe._

I had to grin. He was so up himself it was unreal.

_Aww you gone all shy on me now babe? Don't be like that sugar ;) did you buy something nice for our date?_

The smile slipped from my face. Crap. I had subconsciously picked those clothes thinking about whether Paul would like or not. He couldn't know that.

_I'm not afraid of the heat. Don't be ridiculous, why would I?_

He couldn't know that I was…looking forward to this date tomorrow. Her phone buzzed.

_Aww babe you definitely did. I can't wait to see it. Does it show leg?_

Laughing I took a sip of my coffee.

**A/N: **I love Paul *smirks*


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry! Just started back to school and it's been hectic! Don't hate me *winks***

**Bella's POV.**

It was almost seven o'clock before I pulled up in the drive. Charlie's cruiser was absent, meaning he was doing a late shift. He'd probably been at the station all day today. I frowned, I didn't like him working himself so hard. He was going to make himself sick. I sighed softly shaking my head. He loved his job, and I loved that he had something that he loved.

Grabbing the couple of bags I had, I ambled up to the front door, unlocking it and setting everything _just so_. I pondered making enough dinner for Charlie and then decided I would, even if he didn't get home to eat it. It would freeze for another time. Pulling out the stuff to make spaghetti bolognaise and meat balls, I set myself into an easy, mindless pace. Cooking helped to relax my mind, keeping my hands busy and my thought process simple.

I should have a closer look through some of those cookbooks and see what they had to offer. Before I'd realised it, dinner was ready and waiting to be plated up. I looked at it before deciding that I wasn't hungry anymore and placed it in a plastic dish to be put in the fridge when it had cooled.

Heading back to the front door, I flicked the alarm on and picked up my bags. Climbing slowly up the stairs, I contemplated my 'date day' with Paul tomorrow. What did he have in mind? If I were to go by anything that I'd seen of him, it would be something that I wouldn't like and would probably harm myself doing.

I snickered; he had continued to text me all day, teasing me endlessly about our 'date' tomorrow. He seemed nice over text, but that was when he wasn't within touching distance. He seemed to be very hands-on. He didn't seem the type to cuddle up or be friendly in his touching. Nope. Not Paul. He was a '_if I want to touch, I will touch. And you won't stop me_' type of person.

Forward is the word I'm looking for I think.

He was also territorial. When I'd said that the date couldn't have me out too late, as I was having Jake over for dinner, he'd flipped his shit. Going on and on about how it was his day with me and that for tomorrow I belonged to him.

It both thrilled and terrified me.

I'd gotten defensive and clamed up, over text for god's sake, and he'd somehow known. He dropped the subject and moved on to something else. Which I was immensely grateful for.

Holding the beautifully carved wolf like a baby bird in my hands, I sighed in longing. I hated dogs, but I loved wolves, and I honestly had no idea why. Dogs are descendants from wolves and they had many of the same characteristics, but they put me on edge. Although wolves were natural hunters, predators, and wholly more dangerous than dogs, something about them drew me in. their pack dynamics fascinated me, it was like a family with some being the horrid step-brothers that you just could not stand to the aunts and uncles that you practically worshiped. A family. Dogs weren't like that.

I gently laid the carving on my window-sill and stepped back to just _admire._ There will never be an adjective that could ever do it justice. Now sitting where it was, it could silently howl at the moon till its heart's content. I smiled gently, before turning away and hanging my outfit for tomorrow on a hanger.

_Does it show leg? ;)_

Good God, what have I gotten myself into? It definitely showed leg, and suddenly I wasn't so confident about wearing it. At least not anywhere Paul would see it. Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I grab my things and head for a shower, so I wouldn't have to spend time on it in the morning.

Groaning, I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow. I was not ready to be awake yet. I glance at my alarm clock when a pestering thought kept telling me I had to be somewhere. The little numbers told me it was seven a.m. I sat bolt upright in bed. I had a date with Paul in less than an hour. Scrambling out of bed I rush into the bathroom to clean my teeth, wash my face and deal with my hair. Twenty minutes later, I rush into my room, amazingly without injury, and strip. Pulling on a matching set of off-cream underwear on, I slip into the previously laid out outfit. I gently tucked the bottom of my top into the waist band of the skirt before adding a pair of shiny cream ballet-flats. Checking the clock I sigh with relief, noticing I had about three minutes until Paul get here.

At half past seven on the dot, the doorbell rang and I flounced downstairs to answer it. I was equal parts anxious and excited. I hadn't really dated…before and afterwards I had no desire to be near anyone other than Charlie and Jake. So this was kinda my first date. And it was just to take the piss out of the face that the man I'm going on said date with terrifies me.

I have finally gone insane.

I opened the door and there he was. Standing on my front step like he owned the place. All six foot six inches of complete muscle. At least he'd made an effort. He'd put on a crisp black shirt that stretched tightly across his every muscle and deemed it fit to twitch every time he breathed. He had a pair of worn blue jeans and a pair of dress shoes. Had I seen him wear shoes? I don't think the other, well _twice_ I'd encountered him, he had worn shoes. Of any kind.

"And she said she wasn't making an effort." I jerked my head up to look at him and he had a teasing smile on his face. Ok, so maybe today wouldn't be too bad. Or I was going to be walking on egg shells waiting on him scaring the life out of me. The latter option sounded more likely.

"I didn't." I turned and locked up before looking back at him.

"The way you look, babe, you made an effort." My face flushed as I shook my head in denial. I had made an effort, not that I'd consciously made the decision too, but I had.

"So, little girl, you just happened to have a new outfit hanging in your closet waiting to be worn?" I froze at the use of the nick-name he had for me. And, damnit, small shivers of desire coursed through me. He bent down to whisper in my ear;

"One that shows leg, no less." His warm breath whispered across my neck, making goose bumps prickle along my skin. His voice was pure sin. That thought was like a splash of ice water, bringing me back from where-ever I had been about to go.

"Well, yes, skirts usually do show leg." He pulled away from me, studying my face, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement. His dark chuckle sent my stomach quivering.

He slipped his arm around my shoulders, tugging me close to him, ignoring it when I stiffened. Pulling me along to his dark blue truck, his fingers lightly played with the ends of hair.

"Well, you look fucking hot babe." My face flamed as he continued to chuckle. He opened my door for me and helped me climb in. God his cab smelled amazing. Just like Paul.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked as he climbed into the driver's side and started the truck.

"We're going on a date." His smirk said he knew how much that would infuriate me.

"Are we?" his surprise at my flirty smile showed in his eyes.

"Well, little girl, that's what this is. Can't tell me you haven't been on a date before." He snorted as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. Unfortunately, it hit a nerve. I sat silently, wishing I was anywhere but where I was.

"What's wrong?" I glanced over at him with misty eyes and realised he had pulled over to the side of the road. His dark eyes scanned every inch of my face.

"It is." He just raised his brows at me in a way that said he had no clue what I was on about.

"It is what?" I swallowed, trying to look away from him but finding myself unable to. His penetrating gaze wouldn't let me look away.

"My first date." My breath caught and I wanted to run, to get as far away from those disbelieving eyes as I could. The slow dawning of horror that bled into them made me want to scream. He suspected.

"…What?" the horrified disbelief that shone in his tone made my heart skip a beat and freeze. Charlie told me nobody knew! My breathing increased in my panic, making it hard to focus.

"I never dated anyone before the torture and after it I didn't want to be here, and I couldn't stand people touching me!" The hand that slapped over my mouth muffled the sob that broke free. Wide, terrified eyes stared back at me, Paul sat there, mouth gaping like a fish and I couldn't believe what had just come out my own mouth. And I realised my mistake.

He hadn't known.

"Bella," his voice was soft, barely a whisper, trying not to frighten me I presume.

"Bella, honey what are you talking about?" I stopped breathing all-together. I needed to gain control of myself.

After several moments of Pauls worried gaze staying trained on my face, I finally spoke.

"I don't think this was such a great idea. I would appreciate it if you too me home now please." He shook his head at me, turning off the ignition. My palms started to sweat.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me what the Hell is going on." I turned away from him. I couldn't do this, not here, not now not ever.

"No, Paul. Take me home." His large hand grasped my upper arm and I froze, trying to lean away from him in doing so.

"Oh no, little girl. Not until I know." I spun back to him, my blood boiling.

"I told you not to call me that! Don't EVER say those words to me!" He jerked away at my shriek. My hands were shaking and my head was pounding. I wanted him to leave me alone.

"Tell me Bella." He sounded so calming, his tone warmer than before, and I fell for it.

"I was placed into witness protection, in Charlie and Renée's

care, three years ago. At fourteen, I had pretty much everything I needed. Not wanted, my home life was a shambles. My parents had one Hell of a messy divorce, and nothing was ever simple or even civilized between them. I grew up pretty fast in that way. I was the adult. I had a beautiful little sister that needed me; I couldn't let her down by being childish and crying about it. So I just got on with it. And that was that." I paused; this wasn't going to be easy to get out.

"A couple of months before my sisters birthday, she went out for the day with my dad, I was busy and couldn't make it. When she came back, she seemed different, distant. She wouldn't talk about what had happened. It worried me.

Two weeks later, she was kidnapped.

I was completely out of my mind with worry; I couldn't function unless it was on something to do with her case. Nothing anyone said or did made it better. The police were doubtful to start with and after three days, pronounced her gone. Untraceable, is what they told me.

But I found her." I glared at the dash.

"I never stopped looking, and I finally found them a week and a half later. When I got there they were beating on her, and after I saw that, I don't remember much, except agreeing to take her place. Apparently she had information that they wanted. I told them that she was just a kid, what could she possibly know? Besides, she told me everything anyway. Whatever she knew, I knew. Except I didn't.

They wanted to know what my father had told her, but she hadn't told me so I just kept quiet. When they realised that beating me wasn't going to get the answer out of me, they resorted to more…creative methods. They tortured me for three months straight, and I never told them a thing. Not one thing about anything. In those three months the only words I spoke were to tell them where to shove it." My words choked off, as a sob broke free.

"So they got the one thing that would get me talking. They brought her back and made me watch as they…as they – they killed her." The tears were flowing down my face by now, silently dripping off my chin onto my blouse.

"Then they killed everyone else. My whole family – on both sides – were gone within a couple of days. The body count was climbing, but I couldn't do anything past looking at her broken body, lying dead at my feet, as though _I _had killed her."

Sighing, I turned to look at him, and his face said it all.

"Charlie's daughter was murdered round about the same time, and I was shipped off here to pretend to be her.

Renée didn't want anything to do with me and that was fine. I didn't blame her for it, seeing as I wanted nothing to do with her either. Charlie however, saw something. He wouldn't give up and he kept getting on at me, even though I never once spoke to him. And when I did, I think I scarred him for life. He called it survivor's guilt, but it's not. I wouldn't think twice about dyeing for her, and he just couldn't understand that. I didn't want to be _alive _if she wasn't.

But Charlie is a good man, and for whatever reason, he cared about me enough to bring me away from a very dangerous edge. He loves me like he did with his own daughter, and although he'll never be my father, he is my dad."

The silence was so thick in the cab, it was nearly choking me. Paul was tense and upright, his hands clenched into fists and his teeth were grinding together so hard, I could hear it from where I sat. His face was murderous, and it scared me a little.

"I think I should go." As quietly and as gently as I could I pried open the door and slipped out, landing lightly next to the parked truck. Swiping a hand over my face, I cleared away the tear tracks and ran my hands through my hair.

I had lost my mind. I must have been possessed to even consider opening my mouth, let alone tell Paul my whole sordid history. I got five steps away from the truck before Paul had me wrapped up in his arms, murmuring nonsense words into my hair, holding me as close as physically possible. I relaxed into his embrace and rubbed my cheek against his chest. Just for now, I'd take the comfort being offered.

**A/N: so that took me atrociously long to write and for that I apologise. It was just that, some of Bella's history is my own (my parents divorce took years and they are Hell bent on making each others lives miserable and I have a little sister that I'd die for, no questions asked) and sometimes when I sat down to write some more I'd get too emotional and have to stop, or my brain would refuse to conjure up and co-operate with me. So thank you for waiting on me, I love you guys! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: … … … … … yes, you can beat me now. I am so ashamed of myself and lack of updating. … … … … … I'm sorry… … … … ... I love you guys?... … … … … ok, I'll just write… … … … … … **

**Bella's POV.**

He was so warm. It was such a contrast to how I usually felt. I have been cold inside for so long now, and the only time that ever changed was when I was with Jake. And he really was huge! Standing, wrapped in his arms, I could fully appreciate just how tall and well-muscled he is. His arms had wrapped around my back and folded over themselves again, they were that long.

"Bella?" his voice resonated through my whole body as it rumbled through him. I pulled back to look at his face, his eyes pinched with worry and anger.

"Yeah?" I had to swallow twice to moisten my throat, as it had gone dry with the panic and tears.

"What's your real name?" I jerked a little. He was the first person to have asked that. Renée hadn't cared enough to bother asking my name, she just wanted away from me. Charlie was too focused on keeping me alive and healthy to ask things he knew I couldn't answer.

"I don't have one anymore." His eyebrows pulled down and he leaned back to get a better look at my face.

"What was your name…before? You had to have had one." I nodded slowly, knowing what he was saying was obviously true, but not sure if I could give him an answer. It had been made perfectly clear to me at the very beginning that no-one could know anything about my past.

"That's true…but it doesn't change anything. My name is Isabella and as far as anyone knows that's the way it has always been." I shrugged at the end. To some people they might think it strange that, that didn't bother me the way it probably should.

"Doesn't upset you? That you're no longer allowed to be who you were?" I paused to consider what he had asked. I glanced around and saw a fallen tree and tugged Paul over to sit on it. He took my hand and it gave a small bit of courage.

"No. At first, I didn't care…about anything. I mean nothing at all affected me at that time. I couldn't function, anything that I did was…forced. There was a blur of time when I was in the hospital, but I don't remember much of that. There were operations and morphine." I had to look away. The things the doctors did to fix my body were amazing and the operations were perfectly executed. Unfortunately, because of some of the chemicals that my torturers used on me through those three months, I had grown an immunity to pain medication. Morphine included. But I didn't bother with telling the doctors that, and I wasn't going to tell Paul either.

"So during that time, nothing did matter. I couldn't do anything anyway, whether I'd wanted to or not. After I got out, I was shipped straight out the country and to America. It was always a place I'd wanted to go, before everything happened, and even that couldn't make me care. Then came the witness protection. That was difficult. I didn't care what happened to me anymore and they wouldn't leave it alone when it came to my safety." I huffed.

"In truth the people that had been sent to work with me irritated me. So, yeah, I wasn't functioning like a normal person, but come on! They didn't have to treat me like a child, acting as though I would only know what a child of seven knew-at most! I just wanted to be alone and work through the trauma that I had been through and I wanted to do it by myself my way. But they didn't let me.

I had to work on my accent, change it from my own to an American one, which was pretty easy. Remembering all the details about a life that wasn't mine was easy too, I had no problem with retaining the information. But developing the relationships with Charlie and Renée? And Jake? Those were difficult. They weren't my family and they weren't my friends. They were hers. They didn't belong to me, they had nothing in common with me.

So in that case, yeah I cared about living a life that wasn't mine. I wanted to feel numb, I didn't want to…miss them, but I did." My eyes started to mist over.

"Charlie is a complete Godsend. He is just phenomenal. If it wasn't for him, I don't know where I'd be. Jake," I smiled, laughing a little.

"Jake is like my best-friend from back home. We would have been friends even if I wasn't pretending. He lights up my day and he keeps me smiling. For the short time I'm with him, he makes me forget, makes me feel like I _am_ her. Like this is my life and that everything is how it should be. But then I remember that it isn't and I hate myself, but I also know that at some point I have to move forward and keep moving, rather than staying stuck.

So yes, a lot of the time it does annoy me that I'm not who I was. But at the same time, I like where I am now. I don't miss the old me, because in truth I don't really remember her. For a short but intensive period of time, I was programmed to be no-one other than Bella, so that's who I am now."

And that was that. Paul squeezed my hand and I looked at his face, looking for the emotions that he had displayed earlier but there was nothing except concern.

"Who were they, the people who…did all this to you?" my heart skipped and I exhaled a shaky breath. I knew he would ask, it was only reasonable.

"I don't know. I had never even seen him before, or his fucked up girlfriend. They could have been related though. They acted like they had been around each other for decades but neither of them could have been older than twenty five. Both of them had odd accents and they were graceful. I know that's a strange thing to pick up on but that's just what I'm like. I remember the little details about people I see. But anyway, they were oddly graceful in everything they did. Their movements were fluid, like ballet."

He clasped my chin and turned my head towards him. His eyes were like onyx, dark and threatening.

"What did they look like?" this was the part everyone found difficult to believe.

"They were both pale, paler than me and I didn't think that was possible without being dead. The male was tall, around five feet ten, and he had long unkempt blonde hair. It was raggedly cut and filthy. He did most of the – dirty work shall we say. He could get quite creative if he didn't get what he wanted. The woman was a red-head, more feline in action. She had a tendency to use her…hands. She was a _lot _more hands-on about everything." I shrugged. That was what they were like.

"Oh! And they never wore shoes." He snorted at that. They were also covered in mud and dried blood when I first 'met' them. But Paul didn't need to know that. Everyone else had simply dismissed it as my imagination or stress. Strangely though, for all the dirt and grime and blood that they carried themselves in, they had a sickly sweet smell to them. Almost like their natural scent was sweet but had been mixed with burnt sugar and almonds.

"Anything else that was strange about them?" I shifted my eyes away, knowing what I was about to say would not be believed.

"Yeah. They both had…red eyes." Paul stiffened beside me. Glancing up at him through my lashes, I saw his jaw clench. He was vibrating again. _Dangerous. _Not this time. This time he was angry _for _me, not at me. Cautiously stretching my hands out to touch his face, I stroked along his jaw until he had calmed down and stopped shaking. He looked at my face. Then touched my hand and followed my arm with his eyes. Tracing along the lines of my body he ogled each part of me, as though committing it to memory.

"How bad are your scars?" I inhaled through my nose to old back the taste of bile that rose every time I thought about my scars.

"They're not pretty but I guess they could have been worse. Why?" his hand had descended towards my stomach and I knew then what he wanted.

"Can I see them?" I sat and flicked my eyes over his face, looking for any sign of what he was thinking.

Standing up, I slowly un-tucked my top from my skirt and with shaky hands I started to slowly pull the hem up. I got to my hip bones and stopped, unable to bear the feelings of on-coming rejection. That would hurt too much. The only other person I had willingly shown my scars to was Charlie.

Paul stood with me and gently cupped my hands and tugged. Together we lifted the fabric over my stomach to below my rib cage and let him see. The uneven ridges and bumps glittered faintly in the poor sun light, showing them off to his piercing eyes. His fingers lightly traced them and I had to turn away from them.

"Do they disgust you? They shouldn't. These signify that you are a survivor and that you are strong. So yeah, they might be something that you wish you didn't have, and yes, they do give you flaws but that just makes you more beautiful. Your imperfections are beautiful. They are part of you and you shouldn't be ashamed of them. You fought for something that you believed in. People that have enemies are the people that stood for what they believe in, even if they are the only ones standing. That lonely person was you."

The tears had started and now Paul was left to wipe them away.

"Thank you. I've never thought of it that way. I've always just accepted that I deserved them." He shook his head violently back and forth.

"You never deserved them but you should wear them with pride. You _survived._ How ,any others would have given up before they were free? What you went through was horrendous and I'm in no way going to pretend to understand how that makes a person change, because I don't know, but what I see before me… is simply magnificent."

He dropped my shirt from his hands and I let it flutter back down to sit where it should be. Tucking strands of hair away from my face behind my ear, he moved closer to me. He wrapped his arms around me again and kissed my forehead.

"As long as you le me, I will protect you. Nothing will ever harm you as long as I'm around. I swear to you, I won't let them."

Bless this man, but he didn't know what he was up against.

**A/N: How was that? I promise to try and keep more regular updates. But if I don't make an appearance within a four week period, feel free to message me and verbally kick my ass. Until next time my lovelies! xxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So the date today then!**

Bella's POV

His heat was amazing. It seemed like I was always cold these days. My body never retained any heat from anything. Paul seemed to heat me right through though, heating me from the inside out. Even when he wasn't touching me – like now. We had finally managed to get off the side of the road and into his truck again. He was more than willing to just take me home and stay the day together at mine but I insisted that we continue with our original plans. Why should we let it spoil our plans for today? And as he had elegantly put earlier, I'd made an effort.

Paul drove like a madman. I hadn't noticed it before, being too nervous about our date to really pay much attention to anything going on around me, but I took stock of it now. Mainly because I had my left hand clenched tightly to the seat and my right had a death grip in the door handle. We must being going to Seattle, because at the speed he was driving at we would have already gotten to Port Angles. Jesus, I'm surprised I haven't suffered respiratory failure already. Or coronary problems. My heart was in my mouth and my breathing was all over the place.

"You ok over there?" I turned huge eyes on him, glaring at his smirk. I'd already asked him to slow down, and he had just laughed and actually sped up. I think he enjoyed teasing me like this. His way of making sure there was no tension after my revelation. The ass.

"Don't talk to me." He just laughed and I swear his eyes lit with the challenge. Chuckling, he eased up on the speed and I in turn was able to prevent doing damage to the tendons in either of my hands. He kept glancing over at me, his eyes dark and pensive. I gave him a small, appreciative smile and he returned it with a wolfish grin.

Looking out the window, my thoughts turned pensive. Paul wasn't all that bad, all in all. Yes, his temper left a lot to be desired at times, and he had something distinctly _wicked _about him, but it sort of just added to make his personality. He was rough and unsophisticated. Rude and harsh. But at the same time he was gentle and caring. He was sharp and observant, without stepping over the mark.

He had been both harsh as well as crude with me, but he had also been unbearably sweet too. He didn't have to have anything to do with me after my word vomit at the roadside, but he'd _hugged _me of all things! He had comforted me when he had no reason to do so other than out of the goodness of his own heart.

He was very confusing, but I could already tell that I was going to be having my fair share of time with him to work him out.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I looked over at him and saw him intently studying my face, obviously having caught the vary expressions.

"They are worth more than a penny, sir." He laughed at my flirty tone and I laughed with him. It was nice to know that, although he knew my darkest secret, it hadn't really changed his view on me.

"I'll bet I can get them out of you _babe_." My face flushed at the implication of that sentence. Seeing my face redden he laughed heartily, filling the cab with the rich sound. My face scrunched in embarrassment, my heart kicking over.

"You're awfully full of yourself." I smirked as he gaped at my reply, clearly taken by surprise my ability to respond to a sexual innuendo.

He leaned closer to me and my breath hitched, and I could swear he had heard it as his predatory grin grew slightly. The closer he got to me, the quicker my heart beat. The scent that was purely Paul wafted my way, making me heady and causing my lids to slip semi-closed. His scent was all but intoxicating. He was so close to me, his breath moved my hair and made my palms sweat.

"I'll show you just how 'full of myself' I can be baby." His eyes were so dark, smouldering in their depths. He brushed his nose along my cheek, breathing in before slowly pulling away. My eyes followed his movements, staring at him as he looked me over. He had a small smile playing over his full mouth, full of male pride. Oh, he knew exactly how full of himself he was.

I jerked my gaze away from him, willing my heart to slow down to a normal pace and hoping that my irregular breathing wasn't as obvious as I felt it was.

I was right; we ended up in Seattle, almost two hours after the original expectation time. Pau parked us and came round to open my door for me, grinning at my slightly flustered appearance. Grasping my hips, he lifted out of the cab before practically dragging me down the length of his body, enabling me to come into close contact with every ridge and bump of his extremely well sculpted torso. Sweet Jesus, he was _trying _to make me flustered.

Safely placed on the ground, Paul draped his arm round my shoulders and tugged me close to his body, wisely ignoring the way I initially stiffened. I may be more comfortable with him now than I was even from this morning – but I still wasn't used to much contact from others. I liked his arm around me though, it made me feel safe as well as letting loose an uncomfortably large and active batch of butterflies in my stomach. His heat seeped into me, making me smile, I had a personal heater.

He quirked an eyebrow at me, and I suppose he was making sure that I wasn't objective to the position I now found myself in. I nodded my consent at having him act so familiar with me.

For an hour, we simply walked around shops, enjoying some sunshine and the idle snippets of caught conversations. Paul would manhandle me into different shops if he caught me admiring something in the window. He seemed happy to indulge in whatever little thing that I took a liking to. Patience was now being added to the complex list of Paul's characteristics. He hadn't stopped grinning at me the whole time, and he was constantly touching me, not that I minded any more. His touch brought some comfort, especially when I began to notice that people had a tendency to stare at us, sometimes stopping to have a gawk before promptly looking away when Paul looked them over and raised a brow, grin still in place, making it look rather sinister. I don't think he realised that I noticed that he would crowd me every time a guy looked me over, but I had. I was grateful in more ways than one for it.

"Just try them on would you?" I blushed and shook my head, trying to walk around him, but he wasn't having any of it. I had noticed black, lace summer shorts whilst in one of the many stores he's had me in and when he caught me looking at them he'd picked up a pair and ushered me into the changing area, insisting that I try them on.

I had managed to slip past him on his right but hadn't taken even half a step before his large hands clamped around my waist and hoisted me into the air. I squeaked inelegantly as I was swung around and placed roughly inside a changing room. I glared up at his smug look. High-handed, note taken.

"Either _you _try it on, or _I'll _put it on you. Your choice sweetheart." I huffed, but grabbed the material from his hand and slid the curtain shut on in smirking face. Honestly, the shorts were pretty. The silk black under-shorts cave the cover to the black lace on top. Looking closely at the design in the lace, my cheeks heated as I discovered the wolves stitched into the lace. That was what had caught my attention about the shorts. Paul coughing purposefully pulled me out of my thoughts and I stripped off my skirt before slipping into the shorts. Looking in the mirror, I immediately wanted to put my skirt back on. They were the definition of short-shorts. Ok, so they weren't the shortest pair I'd ever seen and they were nice looking. I liked them except for the fact that you could see some scarring.

"Shit…" I jerked my head round to see Paul had stuck his head around the curtain and was now shamelessly ogling. My hands automatically went down to my legs to cover the scars on show and he frowned, drawn by the movement.

"Uh…" I was at a loss of what to say or do as he came right into the changing room and firmly closed the curtain behind him. I backed up to the far wall, not that it really put any distance between us as the changing room wasn't in any means large. Still frowning, Paul reached for me, gently grasping my wrists and removing the cover they provided. He watched my eyes, completely ignoring the discomfort that filled them, and then slowly dragged his gaze down my body, causing goose bumps to cover my arms and making the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He stopped his perusal of my body on my legs, just under the hem of the shorts. I closed my eyes, unable to bear him seeing the disfiguration of those scars. It was one thing to show him the ones above my hips in the heat of the moment, caught up in all the emotion that was flowing between us. It wasn't something I had been expecting to be put through again so soon.

"Look at me." Slowly, I opened my eyes and raised my gaze to his. His eyes shone with concern and anger.

"Don't hide. Listen to me," I had looked down again, avoiding his penetrating gaze, but my eyes jumped back up at the tone in his voice. He searched my face for a moment before shifting me to stand along the length of his body – both of us facing the mirror.

"What is it that you see that I don't? What is it that makes you hide from anyone? Because what I see is pure perfection." My face flushed at the obvious compliment but at the same time tears filled my eyes and my stomach dropped. I sighed out my breath, before lifting my head to face him via the mirror.

"It's not what I see, or what you see. It's something…different." He nodded slowly. He rubbed my wrists soothingly.

"I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't bother me that you hide your scars, because it does. You're beautiful and shouldn't feel like you have to hide anything, but it's up to you." I nodded, grateful that he wasn't pushing the issue.

"But you _are _buying these shorts. Before you argue, you don't have to wear them anywhere. But I want you to wear them for me. Just for me. You can hide from the whole world if that's what you want to do, but you are not hiding from me. I'm not going to let you. These shorts," he gave the hem a little tug with a smirk.

"Are for you and me. Because I know and it doesn't bother me and for you because I don't want you to be ashamed of the scars when you are with me." I swallowed hard, against both the tears and the anticipation.

"Ok." He gave me a genuine smile, show-casing perfectly straight, white teeth. That smile could make a girl swoon.

"Good, now hurry it up cupcake, we have late lunch reservations." I narrowed my eyes at him. He _knew _I had Jake coming over for dinner tonight.

"Today is _mine_ babe." And then he was gone. I gave the mirror a watery smile and a resolute nod. I could do that. I could do what Paul was asking of me.

Pulling up outside Charlie's house, I gave Paul a grateful smile and impulsively leaned over to give him a hug. He paused and I was about to pull back mortified when his arms wrapped around me and tugged me closer. I could hear his strong heart beat and for reasons unknown it soothed something inside. He pulled his fingers through my hair from scalp to ends and inhaled. It made me smile.

"Thank you. I had a great time today." I pulled back to see him grinning at me again. His dark eyes almost _twinkled _with merriment. I laughed at the purely boyish look on his face.

"Thank you for letting me take you out on your first date." I blushed but laughed along with him. Pure male ego.

"Come on, I suppose I should get you in." he wrapped his arm around my wait and pulled me out half laughing half squealing behind him and out of his side of the cab.

He kept his arm around me as he walked me up to the porch before halting me from opening the door. I craned my neck to look up at him. Gosh he was tall!

"Text me when the runt leaves, 'kay?" I raised a disapproving brow at his terminology of Jake. It hit a little close to home with what Edward had said about him.

"I'll consider texting you after _Jake _leaves. Gosh Paul, you need to watch the way you talk about him, some might think you were…" I leaned closer and looked around suspiciously and said with a lower voice;

"Jealous!" he roared with laughter and I grinned up at him. It was amazing how comfortable I was around him in less than a day. It was a strange development but one I was happy with.

"I might be baby, I might be." He laughed down at me and I smirked back.

"Good." His brows rose and I realised I said that out loud.

"You want to make me jealous baby? I'll tell you a secret." He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Just thinking about you being with him in any way makes my blood boil. I'm practically green with _envy_ that he has your affection." I shivered when he placed a kiss on the slope of my neck, before dragging his nose across my cheek. He pulled back before leaning in and placing a kiss on my nose and wrapping me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his waist and cuddled in close.

I felt him press a kiss to my hair before letting me go. He handed me my bag and slapped my ass before jogging to his truck and driving off. I smiled all the way into the kitchen, where it faltered on seeing Jake's furious face and Charlie's lost expression. Something told me Jake wasn't happy about me telling Charlie about him fighting.

Tonight was just going to drag by, I could feel it.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I honestly shouldn't be allowed to write for people, when I can't keep to any sort of schedule what-so-ever. I do apologise. *sad face* **

**Bella's POV**

I sighed, scrubbing my hand across about my forehead in resignation. This was not good, not in any means. Just looking at Charlie's face, I could tell that he has spoken to Jake and wasn't getting the response he had expected.

"What's going on?" Charlie just shrugged and looked down at the table, as though waiting for me to chaste him for meddling. We were most definitely going to be having words when Jake left.

"Charlie and I had the most interesting conversation today, Bella." I narrowed my eyes at Jake. Oh, so he was going to act petulant about this then.

"Oh?" Charlie shrunk into his seat at the cold note in my voice, knowing full well that I was not happy.

"Would you give us some privacy, Charlie?" I nodded my consent and he all but scuttled out of the kitchen and I'm pretty sure that he clicked the front door shut. Coward.

I leaned my hip against the counter and stared, unblinkingly at Jake. He'd been running his hands through his hair, a sure sign of distress. His shoulders were tight, as was his jaw. Clearly, whatever had happened between him and Charlie had stressed him and left him tense. His eyes were guarded but I could see the hint of betrayal and anger hiding in the dark depths. It cut to the bone that he felt that way.

"What's going on Jake?" his breath hissed out and he once again ran his hands through his hair. He pushed his chair back, the legs scraping and squealing on the old linoleum. I winced at the high sound but quickly focused on Jake as he started pacing.

"What did you say to Charlie? The other night, when you walked through the forest," he paused and glared at me. "On your own."

I shifted uncomfortably. I could guess where he was headed with this.

"I told him that I'd seen you fighting." I looked down at my feet, a lick of the fear I'd felt at that time and my heart sped up a little.

"I told him that you were good." I looked up at him, catching his eye and holding it.

"I told him that it scared me." He flinched from the fear that crept into my voice. I gripped the counter, hearing in my head the distant sound of fists colliding with hard flesh.

"But you didn't tell him about Paul." His voice was cold and it took a moment for what he'd actually said to register. Was this all because of the fact that I'd told Charlie that I'd seen _Jake _fight?

"Is that what this is about Black?!" I was infuriated! Was he seriously blaming me for his jealous insecurities? This was ridiculous, what else was I supposed to do?

"Come on Bella! Just because you're his imprint, suddenly you're ratting me in to your old man, but leaving him completely out of it! How is that fair? I thought we were best friends! How could you rat me out but let that piece of shit get out of the ear lashing I got?! He all but kidnaped you! But no! His precious imprint couldn't inform her father of what had actually happened, could she? No! I just don't get it? You said you weren't ready for a relationship, but suddenly because you find out that ass is your soul-mate because of Taka Ali, you just waltz right on in?! What the Hell is that about?" his chest was heaving and his hands were shaking, but I paid that no attention.

I was frozen at the word 'imprint'. It was what Paul had said I was, accidentally sure, but he'd said it none-the-less. Did being an imprint mean being a soul-mate? Was that what Jake was insinuating? I stared at him with wide eyes, horrified at his implications.

Jakes horror-filled eyes stared right back at me. He obviously hadn't meant to let that slip, yet in his anger he'd told me more than Paul had and maybe more than I was really prepared to hear.

"Bells…" I shook my head frantically, holding my hand out in front of me to ward him off. I couldn't bear for him to come any closer.

"I thi-ink you should leave." My voice shook but I didn't really care, I just needed space. Regret quickly cut over his face, but he nodded and left via the backdoor. When I could no longer see him, I slowly slid to the floor, cover my face with shaking hands.

This was not a simple case of Jake and Paul being in a gang. No, this was something infinitely more dangerous. Soul-mates. What on earth would possess them to come out with something so…so ludicrous? It had to be something to do with them being tribal boys, right? I mean, they have legends and stories. I've heard about them, when I first moved here Charlie mention it in passing, but he hadn't spent any time focussed on it, and at the time I was grateful. Now, however, I wasted no time in picking myself up off the floor and running up to my room, all else forgotten as I desperately lunged for the computer in the corner. Booting itself took some time, so I decided to go ahead and find my diary, which I hadn't bothered with.

It was part of me 'rehabilitation' into society again. I was supposed to write in the diary, keeping a record of my emotions and my adaptation into a foreign life. I had steadily refused to see a therapist, and Charlie had agreed, and this was the solution. Suffice to say that I had written absolutely nothing in it and had denied all knowledge of where it had 'disappeared' to. I may have been dumped into a new life and have everything be strange and unfamiliar, but I was still me. In the privacy of my mind I would always be me, no matter what was done to change how I was perceived, and writing in a diary for 'therapeutic means of release' was not something I was ever going to embrace.

However, the scrolls of blank, empty pages of paper were going to be disfigured by my need to figure this out. I solved things better when I could understand in my own way what information I had. Triumphantly holding the worn leather-bound book in my hands, I turned to the computer, seeing it had finally gotten its act together and was now willing to co-operate with me.

I sat over an hour later, just blankly staring at all the scribbles on various sheets of paper. I had found a surprising amount of information about the tribal legends on the internet and what I'd found hadn't boosted my confidence in the slightest. The spirit warriors that descend from wolves, their imprints and their laws. It was obvious to me now that Jake and Paul were both shifters. How could they be anything else? They had the ridiculous height and the fever high temperature that could fry an egg. They had muscles that most people wouldn't have even heard of, the irate tempers and split attitude changes.

It was…enlightening. I grimaced.

However, what really made my stomach roll was learning of their enemies, the 'Cold Ones'. Or, the vampires. I felt nauseous just thinking about it. They were pale white, with marble hard skin and lightning fast reflexes. They had red eyes and instead of saliva they had 'venom'. This venom was what enabled them to paralyse their victims, by using the venom to make the victim feel like they were burning alive. It was also how one was changed into a vampire. If the heart was still beating, three days' worth of burning would turn a person into a murdering monster with no scruples.

_I'd seen it happen._

Running for the bathroom, I just made it in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet bowl. Sweat had beaded on my brow and I swiped it away impatiently. Paul had known what they were. It was why he'd kept asking about what I'd noticed. They were nomads that had decided that my family provided the perfect opportunity to elevate their boredom.

Heaving again, my head started to spin. Grabbing hold of the rim of the bathtub, I forced myself into an upright position. I was _not _going to faint. This was nothing compared to things I'd been subjected to.

However, what I was going to do about Paul was still a mystery. He wasn't human, and that was – uncomfortable – for me in the least. I was completely helpless to his superhuman persona and physical attributes. He was violent and vicious, and nothing short of a monster. And yet, the person I knew, or was becoming to know, was all those things as well as caring, kind, sweet and funny. He was also sarcastic, jealous and possessive, all traits that I had so far admired.

The confliction gnawed at me as I stood to rinse my mouth out. Should I continue to go down the road that we were so obviously headed, or should I count my life as a big enough prize and get the Hell out of dodge?

I jumped with a mini scream as the front door slammed against the jam. My heart thumps wildly as another realisation hit me like a freight train. Edward was a vampire. Holy shit, that's why he had always reminded me of _them._ But he had honey gold eyes, which must mean he was one of the vampires the wolves had made a treaty with, one of the _vegetarians_.

"Little girl?!" the relief that poured through me with those two little words was combated with the wave of nausea at the confirmation of who had shouted them. Bending back over the toilet, I evicted the last of me breakfast.

Before I'd finished I felt hot hands pulling back my hair and rubbing soothing circles on my back. My traitorous body began to relax and ease with his hands on me, but my mind was not so easily shut out. I was both repulsed and morbidly fascinated by my physical reaction to his touch and blamed the imprint. Rationally I knew that I wouldn't react this way had it been Jake that had found me in such a compromising position as the one I found myself in now.

"Easy little girl. Slowly." I pulled away from him as soon as I could, without either falling or throwing up again. His scowling face comes into view along with his defensive stance. It immediately triggers my fight or flight instincts and at the moment I was running on scared.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, lassie, and your imprints fine!" the words were hissed out between clenched teeth before I'd even thought about them. His eyes flashed dangerously and fear trickled through my blood, and I saw him discretely sniff. God it was all too much for me to handle.

"Get out of my way, please" it was tacked on at the end in an attempt not to anger him further, but he had clearly seen through my attempt at pushing him away to create space.

"Hell no. now, we are going to go into your room and have a nice little chat, you understand. Now move." He pushed me through the door before him, keeping his hands on my waist the entire time, guiding me to where he wanted me to be. Going into my room, however, I felt him freeze, and glanced back to see his eyes trained on the computer screen and the diary. He knew.

"Definitely talking." It was muttered so low that I felt it vibrate across every pore of by body. Shaking out of his hold I slammed the book closed and flicked off the monitor to the computer, denying him any access to what I'd been doing.

We stood glaring at each other from opposite ends of the room, both battling internal debates on what to do next. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hit him, scream at him, hug him or ignore him.

Studying the man before me, I recalled the way he'd been with me at the side of the road. Compassionate. Caring. Attentive. He'd been an ass and a complete jerk at times too. He'd also been domineering, high-handed, scary and violent. But never once had he attempted to hurt me. That was what made my decision.

"I was tortured by a vampire." He jerked, unexpectedly. His eyes darted back to the computer and the book before coming to rest on my prone form once again. He nodded slowly.

"You're a shifter, descended from wolves." Again he nodded, this time a hint of a smile gracing his lips. He was obviously proud of his heritage, and who could blame him?

"You kill vampires." Any sign of a smile vanished. Again, though, he nodded. I tilted my head in the direction of the book and he slowly stepped over to it, leafing through all the notes and gibberish. He stopped at the last two pages, his eyes taking in every detain of the sketches drawn there.

"They promised they'd be coming for me, when I didn't just roll over and die I mean. They swore that they would find me and they will. I know they will. But from what I can gather, even for vampires they're special. You need to be careful when they get here, Paul." I cut myself off before I could do something embarrassing like admit that I was worried about his safety. Not human, remember?

"You drew these?" he looked at me curiously and I nodded, my cheeks coloring. Admittedly they were more than just sketches. They were fully detailed images of those monsters faces. Each and every fibre of those two had been seared into my brain, and for once I was semi grateful for it.

He gazed at the drawings a minute more before lying them to the side. An awkward silence fell between us. He knew that I knew and he knew that knew a lot.

"I reckon it's why they haven't healed." He raised a brow at me, not understanding my seemingly random outburst.

"My scars I mean. I think because of them healing with the venom inside that they couldn't be healed." He growled, long and low and it hung in the air between us. Goosebumps littered my body both in fear and reassurance.

"I won't let them hurt you." I nodded watching his heartbeat throb in the vein of his neck as he reined in his temper.

"You're mine, little girl, and I refuse to share." It should have frightened me, the intensity in which his words came across but instead it made me feel safe.

Safe.

I all but flung myself across the room and into his surprised arms, but he caught me securely and hugged me to him, sniffing my neck and nuzzling my hair. I squeezed him as tight as I could, trusting in his judgement to keep me safe.

"MINE, little girl." I smiled as the words tore out of his throat, reverberating in my chest cavity.

"My wolf."

**A/N: There we go *smiles* Quite a heaving/deep chapter I think so perhaps something more light-hearted next time. Originally, I had planned on Paul blurting out what an imprint was when he found Jake trying to kiss Bella, but it just didn't work out that. But I think her finding out on her own adds a little…**_**something**_**...don't you? *cheekily grins* bye my lovelies xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Gosh, it feels as though I've been gone for ages! Not really sure why, in all honesty, but hey there you go! *grins* How are you all? I'm positively chirpy (which is a tad weird I know!) but I just re-read Chapter Eleven and wow! My feels! Eak. Gosh I love Paul, don't you?! Ok ok! On we go! **

**Bella's POV**

He held me securely to his chest, a rough purr emanating from his chest. It was soothing to my frayed nerves. It reminded me that in the last couple of days, the only time I'd truly felt peaceful was in the cage of muscles I was currently residing in. It was odd, but not entirely unwelcome.

His heart beat out a steady pace and I found that our breathing had changed to match each other. It was a testament to how close our 'imprint' was already, in that we hadn't really spent any time together in the context of it being consensual on both parts.

I sighed, rubbing my cheek against his bare chest in a sort of contentment, feeling safe and secure with him close. His purr deepened before cutting off as he pushed me back, holding me almost at arms-length to look down at me. He was unbelievably tall, but that wasn't off-putting. No, just different. Not many men could boast they topped six and a half feet or there abouts. His dark eyes were so full; I couldn't even begin to dissect the emotions behind those twin storms. However, the glint in there told me he found my perusal of him amusing.

"What're you looking at little girl?" his voice was deep, so deep that it reverberated in my chest and sent small tingles down the backs of my legs. His scent was just indescribable. It was spicy and dark, cinnamon and pine, ocean currents and fog. I blushed, realising he was watching me inhale him, and still waiting on an answer.

"How tall are you?" he smirked down at me, his eyes full of mirth at my diversion but he answered me anyway.

"Six foot, six and a half inches." He grinned, looking me up and down.

"How about you, little girl, how short are you?" I huffed indignantly as he laughed at his own play on my words, but my lips pulled up the slightest bit. His laugh was simply gorgeous.

"I'm five and a half feet, actually, so I'm not all that short, you big oaf. I'm just extra short to you because you're half way to being a damn giant." He choked on his laughter, staring down at me incredulously. I raised a brow expertly and gave him a smirk of my own. He muttered something under his breath that was too low for me to catch, but I felt my smirk grow wider anyway.

I stepped back, out of his arms and he scowled at me, reaching for me instantly. I laughed lightly and made my way to my bed and sat at the headboard, motioning him to join me. He did, gracefully folding himself onto my too small bed. Even with his knees tucked up, his feet were touching the floor. I frowned, wandering how he could possibly be comfortable, before he drew my attention back to his face. His long tapered finger curled under my jaw, lifting my face to look at him, his brows drawn down in confusion.

"What?" I shook my head sighing. He would move if he was uncomfortable, meaning there was no cause for concern. I reached up with both hands to hold his giant one in them. His skin was both soft and rough. Clearly he worked with his hands, probably doing some sort of manual labour. I smiled, envisioning him taking out his fury on some poor, unsuspecting building, before smugly smiling at a job well done.

"What has you smiling?" I looked up at his face and my smile grew. His lips were curved up at the corners, clearly enjoying watching me play with his hand. I traced my finger-tips lightly over the veins and tendons on the back, enamoured by the way the skin stretched around his bones and muscle.

"You do manual labour. I can imagine you beating the crap out of a building none the wiser to your anger." He laughed at that, nodding his head.

"There have been a few times that that's been the case. Physicality helps me burn off excess stress." I smiled back up at him, before hesitantly bringing my hand up to his head height. He stilled for me, watching me watch him. But there was no sign that this made his uncomfortable, or that he didn't want me to touch him. Slowly, I rubbed my fingers through the silken strands of his inky black hair, the texture so soft it was at odds with almost all of the rest of him.

Everything I knew about him was contradicting in one way or another. He had so many aspects to his character that I don't think I'll ever have him worked out. He was everything I'd been warned off of, mostly by myself truth be told, yet he seemed to be exactly what I needed.

"It's the imprint, I guess." I jerked my head back around to look into his face, seeing him watching me intently. His eyes were dark and brooding.

"What do you mean?" I hadn't said any of that out loud, of that I was almost one hundred per cent certain. I pulled back from him so I could get a better read on his body language. His shoulders had tightened in the small time it had taken me to move away from him, so this was obviously something he didn't think I was going to take well.

"An imprint is…well basically she's everything. The wolf is very instinctual by nature; everything he does is mainly for survival. None of us knew how to hunt while phased, the wolf did it just because that was natural, instinct, for him. He doesn't think the way we do; his thoughts are a lot simpler, his needs and want a whole lot more basic. He doesn't feel emotion the way that we do, and the limited emotion he does feel couldn't be compared to how we feel. In some ways it's a lot _less,_ I guess. His feelings are a lot less colourful, meaningful and yet he has a depth to him that cannot be explained, because as humans we simply cannot comprehend the intensity to which the animal feels.

His needs are simple; food, water, shelter, pack…and a mate. This is what an imprint is essentially. She is the perfect match for the wolf. Everything about her balances him, and in turn the man he goes with. The wolf picks his mate, because as soon as he sees her, looks into her soul, he knows. He knows that she is the only thing that he's ever going to need to keep him sane. He knows that she'll be everything he thought he could never have; a sense of security that's always missing. She brings a sense of balance, something that the wolf has always struggled with; being that he finds it hard sometimes not to just kill for the sheer exhilaration.

Sam imprinted on Emily, and he's…a better version of himself. I won't lie to you little girl, it changes people, even others around us. Sam was engaged and in love with Emily's cousin but as soon as his wolf saw Em and recognised her as his imprint, he was gone. He loves her like you could only imagine; both wolf and man. He's totally devoted to her and only her. There will never be another for him or for her now.

The Elders have some bullshit theory that the wolf imprints to make stronger wolves in the next generation, but they haven't seen inside Sam's head, they don't know the way he feels about Em, never-mind his wolf. His wolf would happily eat each council member for insinuating that the wolf only wanted her for her pups. Don't get me wrong, the amounts of times that Sam's been phased and had phantasies of Em round with his pups are too many to count, but that's only an upside to him and his wolf. It isn't what attracted the wolf to her.

The wolf needs his imprint, although it is said to be extremely rare. Each non-imprinted wolf feels the missing part of himself that his imprint will fill, make him feel whole. She's loved, always and unconditionally, even after she dies. If the imprint dies first, the wolf will always be right behind her, dying simply, of a broken heart.

In a simpler way, I suppose an imprint is a soul-mate."

I could feel my jaw swinging, but I couldn't bring myself to find the energy to close it. The only real thought that I could process was that the internet hadn't done Pauls legends justice.

His hand cupping my jaw pulled me back into focus and I was able to close the gaping hole in my face long enough that I could successfully stare at him incredulously. What he was saying, was that I was his soul-mate – for all intent and purposes. That was just bizarre. We hardly knew each other, and yet from what he'd said, we were tied to each other for life, completely and utterly.

"You don't have to accept the imprint, Bella. If you really didn't want this, then I can't and won't force myself on you. It's really up to you. But I can be whatever you need me to be. If you need a fried, then I'll be as good a friend as I can. If you need a punch bag for having a shit day at school, I'll buy you gloves and stand and take it. If you want a brother, I'll be the best there is. It's entirely up to you." He was trying to make this easy for me, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that there was something he wasn't telling me.

"What if I didn't accept the imprint?" his whole body stiffened and he sharply pulled away from me. Gasping in shock, I tried to reach out for him, but he was already off the bed and pacing around my small room, looking far too uncomfortable to be inside.

"If you were to _reject _the imprint, you'd be just fine. You could go on with your life and pretend that I didn't exist." That wasn't exactly true; I'd never be able to forget about him.

"What would happen to you? To your wolf?" he rounded on me at that, teeth bared and eyes flashing.

"We'd suffer. The wolf would slowly die inside, taking me with it." I flinched at the hostility in his voice. He clearly didn't want any part of this imprinting thing, but he didn't really have a way out of it.

"I'm sorry, Paul. It's hardly fair, that after everything you've already been out through that your gods do this to you as well. It can't be easy to sleep at night knowing that you're myth logically bound to a girl you don't know and don't want to know. I don't have an answer that would make it better for you, I can't just cut you loose from this-"his huge, burning palm slamming over my mouth cut my off. My wide eyes travelled up the length of his are, across his tense shoulder muscles and up his corded neck to his face. His mouth was set in an angry line, his eyes burning in their intensity.

"Shut up, you little idiot." I huffed out a squeak, rather insulted.

"No, would you be quiet? Listen to me and listen to me good. I know you and the parts of you I don't know, I want to know. I love the way you smile and mothers with their infants, like you miss seeing the innocence of this world, and I understand now why that is. I hate that you're so shy, because you don't have any need, nothing about you is imperfect. You babble when you're nervous, and sometimes you do it in your sleep, though not very often. You have a bad habit of cracking your neck when you're stressed, and it's your fingers when you're uncomfortable. I know you, little girl, and I like you. Isn't that enough?" his eyes watched me closely, searching for a sign that I was going to disagree with him. That sign was not forthcoming.

Slow tears filled my eyes and made my vision blur, but I could still see his eyes roll. He gathered me into his arms and sat on the bed with me in his lap. Stroking my back, he made soft, soothing noises that helped me to calm down.

"What's with the tears?" I sniffled, before looking up at him.

"I didn't like the idea of you not getting a choice, and even now, when you know how broken and damaged I am, but you're still stuck with me, whether you want me now or not." He shook his head, brushing his lips over my forehead.

"You are not broken, nor are you damaged. You're a fighter, and trust me little girl, there is nothing sexier." I snorted at that but snuggled further into his arms anyway. He didn't really know the truth, but I had a feeling that he'll find out. One way or another.

**A/N: So, yeah, Paul's explanation on the imprint. I hope I did it justice in my own weird way. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely Easter, as it's safe to say that I won't be seeing you before it! Bye my lovelies! Xx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Bella's POV**

It was cold.

Which I found odd for some reason that I couldn't, at this particular moment, put my finger on. I looked around me and I realised that I was in the forest, if the surrounding greenery was any indication. Alone, I huddled on the ground in front of a gigantic tree. Looking round I noticed that there was a low rolling fog, gently lapping at my bare feet and curling around my ankles. I shivered as tendrils of the fog snaked its way along my arms, shackling my wrists. Gasping, I forced myself to stand, flailing my arms to rid them of the fog.

There was no sunlight, but it was dark enough to be considered 'night' yet. I turned in a slow circle seeking the warmth that I knew I was missing. Nothing here looked familiar. I'd spent a good amount of time in the woods surrounding Forks and La Push, and still didn't recognise any of the minute landmarks lying around. The over-grown tree stump covered in moss was picturesque but not in the least bit familiar. I could feel my heart start to thump harder. Something was most definitely wrong here.

Spinning in a circle, I sucked a breath in through my teeth. I had to think about this, something was off and it was putting me on edge. A small flicker of motion caught my eye and I turned and fell back rapidly as I looked at the site before me. Shock made my blood freeze, but my heart kept pumping it agonizingly throughout my entire body.

Tears started to blur my vision, and my breaths became painful pants in and out of a too-tight airway. On the cushioned ground in front of me lay a body, broken, bloodied and mutilated. It took some time for me to realise that the russet body was inflating and deflating at an uneven rate, but when I did, I practically flew over, my heart in my throat and terror weighing like lead in the pit of my stomach. This person was important.

Wiping blood and hair matted with it from the face, I cried out in horror as I realised Paul was the one lying on the ground, fighting for each breath. His obsidian eyes peered into my face and his lips formed words that I couldn't hear. A heaving sob racked my body forwards as I watched him take his last breath with a small smile on his face, his eyes never leaving mine. It felt like the world was resting on my chest, it was so hard to take in another breath.

Cackling and clapping with malicious glee came from all around me and I whipped my head in various directions trying to pinpoint the source. Dead leaves crunched under careless feet, as they prowled into my line of sight. My breath hitched as a combination of fear and hate ran rampant through my system.

Her hair was still as vibrant as I remembered, regardless of how I tried to forget, her face as wild and eternally beautiful as ever. Her red eyes as bright as rubies, glinting with glee at her kill. She advanced and I scuttled back from her in sheer terror. She had ruined not only my life, but countless others that I had known. She killed them.

She ran her deceptively delicate hands down Paul's body, stopping at his shoulders to give them a twist and a pat, grinning manically all the while.

"Such a gorgeous specimen, don't you agree, _Bella_?" I wanted to vomit. Her hands were still traveling the planes of Paul's body, sensually stroking his abs and combing through his short hair. My heart was breaking, because there was nothing I could do for him, nothing I could do to prevent her from hurting him even more, regardless of the fact that he was gone. My stomach plummeted a she hefted his upper body closer to her mouth and she looked back over at me, licking her lips.

"I wander what he takes like…?" I screamed and launched myself at her, knocking her head – and teeth – away from my Paul. He fell lifelessly to the ground with a dull, hollow thump and stayed there.

However, _she _glared at me through her mane of red hair and growled, low in her throat. Before I could blink she had me by the throat, dangling me in the air. She began to laugh as my airway was blocked, making it impossible for me to breath.

I felt _his _hands on me then, gripping my waist painfully. My stomach lurched in revulsion. I didn't want his hands on me any more than I wanted cancer. I kicked and did my best to scream, but it was all in vain. They were laughing at my weak, meagre human attempts at getting away from them, when we all knew that I had only so much luck on my side, and I'd used it all up escaping them the first time.

However, I was a fighter, and I'd been given a second chance at life and I would be damned if I let them take that from me without giving them a fight for it first.

"BELLA!" I jerked upright, smacking my sweat covered forehead off of a solid wall of russet colored muscle. I squeaked, trembling in the strong grasp, terrified after that nightmare.

"Shh, it's alright little girl, I've got you." I huffed in and out for a few minutes, cuddled in Paul's arms, safe from the outside world.

I jerked hard enough that he grunted in surprise, his strong arms loosening just enough that I managed to wriggle out of his protective embrace and lean back to look at him. His surprise was etched on his face, but the worry and concern he felt was reflected in his eyes, watching my every minute move, making sure I was unharmed. I ran my hands up his muscular arms and across his shoulders, trying to erase her touch – even though I had only dreamt it. I didn't want to even have nightmares about her touching him; he was mine.

"Little girl?" he sounded so unsure, scared. I just shook my head, I couldn't explain to him just yet.

His massive hands gripped my waist, holding me where I was, worried I would bolt. I let out a breathy sigh, on the verge of tears. Paul's hands were such a contrast to _his_ and I wanted Paul's hands on me, I wanted him to hold me. I sniffled as my hands traversed across his torso, rubbing his abs and over his heart, feeling the strong, comforting beat under my palm soothed me. My fingertips ghosted over the handsome planes of his face, my eyes taking in every tiny detail, before my hands slipped into his hair. After a minute of running my finger through his hair, I gripped it tightly in my hands, pulling his face down to mine. His eyes watched me warily but he pulled me closer to him by my waist, practically sitting me in his lap. I rested our foreheads together, breathing him in.

The tears built up and flowed freely down my face, leaving cool trails along my cheeks. It had felt so real, so life-like that I had to just cling to him for a moment to reassure myself that he was real and was safe; here with me, touching me.

He took a breath in discretely sniffing me, and instantly pulled me closer making a low noise of distress in his throat. His scorching hands rubbed up and down my back and sides, providing comfort. His heat seeped into me and I was able to pull in a full breath and start calming down. His face nuzzled along my jaw before dipping under it to my neck. His chin rested on my collar bone and he inhaled my scent, breathing his own out onto me with each exhale.

I closed my eyes, and rested my face in his inly hair. His scent wafted into my face each time I took a breath and it was ridiculously calming. My muscles slowly relaxed and he rumbled in approval. I sighed, lifting my head from his and scrubbing a hand over my face, trying to remove all trace of tears. He remained where he was.

"What time is it?" my voice was raspy and my throat felt thick but there was no threat of tears. Paul shuffled a little, situating me better on his lap, but kept his face against my neck.

"Half eleven. Your dad came home about two hours ago and left a note. There's been a disappearance in Seattle and he was called in to take a look. He won't be back for a couple of days – at the least." I nodded, understanding completely.

I stoked his shoulders, feeling much better that I had, but the horrendous images of _her _touching him kept flashing through my mind. I rubbed my palms over his neck and he finally lifted his head to look at me.

"I'm not going anywhere, you know that right?" my hands froze, hovering just above his cheeks. His words hit too close to that nightmare and my heart flopped.

"Little girl, I'm not leaving, and no-one could ever make me leave. Shh, calm down." he pressed his palm to my chest – above my heart, which was thumping erratically now.

"Wh-what makes you say that?" I was trying to get my breathing back under control while my hands had resumed their movement, grasping his wrists and rubbing them.

He tilted his head, reading my face before covering my left hand with his.

"You're scenting me." At my confused look, he tugged on my hand. I looked down but saw nothing odd about it.

"Your palms carry a lot of your scent in them and you've rubbed them all over the major scent glands on me: my heart, face, hair, neck, wrists. Mixing our scents together. You're letting others know that I'm yours, that you've staked a claim." He rubbed his hand over mine, turning our hands so that our palms were pressed together; 'mixing scents'.

"Oh my god. Shit! I'm sorry, I had n-" he chuckled as he lifted a finger to my lips to stop my babbling.

"I want your scent on me. I _want _everyone to know that you've staked your claim, that I'm yours." My wide eyes stared up at him in bafflement. It was hard to imagine someone so self-assured, so confident and independent _belonging _to another person. I snorted.

"You scented me too, didn't you?" he grinned at me and nodded.

"Every time I've touched you, I've scented you in some way." He winked at me and I had to laugh. I couldn't deny that I liked the idea of being his, as long as I got to call him mine.

"Come on, I'll make you something to eat and you can tell me what happened." I nodded and he scooped me into his arms and held me with just one of his massive arms as he opened my bedroom door. I looped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest, seeking the warmth that I knew he would give.

He sat me on the kitchen counter next to the fridge while he pulled out various different things to make sandwiches with. I grinned at him looking so domesticated. I sat, swinging my legs back and forth, admiring the view I now had in my kitchen. I'll never be able to cook in here without imagining Paul moving around – shirtless.

He was chopping up tomatoes when I decided I'd rather say what I had to and the nausea pass before I attempted to eat anything.

"I was in a part of the woods that I didn't recognise, and it was cold. That confused me, I thought that there ought to be some sort of warmth with me. Fog was rolling in, which is something I don't mind if I'm watching it happen from inside, but I'm not even remotely fond of it when I'm outside in it. Something caught my eye, so I spun towards it, and it was a body. H-he'd been tortured. It took a while for it to register that he was breathing and I just _knew _that he was important to me, so I rushed over." Tears threatened to choke me as I remembered the way Paul had looked, mutilated on the forest floor.

"It was you and I-I, I watched you die." He hadn't stopped what he was doing but he was watching my face intently, his eyes pinching as he took note of the tears that had escaped.

"You said something before you died, but I couldn't hear you, but then someone started _clapping_ and it was vicious. It made my teeth hurt and the hair on the back of neck stand up.

It sounded evil." I looked away from him, unable to quiet come to terms with it myself. I was still struggling to accept that I had been the reason for his death.

"It was _them_. She came over and she-god! She was touching you!" his hands stopped moving and my teeth ground together, getting angry all over again about her filthy hands touching _my _wolf.

"She was taunting me – _she had no right to touch you!_ Then she went to bi-bite you and I flipped. I launched myself at her and stopped her from biting you." I stopped, I knew what was _going _to happen before Paul had woken me, but he didn't need to hear that.

"Why did she have no right to touch me?" I answered his whispered question without thinking about it, and with malice in my voice, because I was highly agitated.

"Because you're mine." My jaw snapped shut as the words registered and I chanced a look at his face. His eyes were closed and there was a small happy smile of his face. When his eyes opened the black depths swirled with pride. His hand cupped the side of my face and he kissed my forehead, my nose and the side of my mouth before pulling back.

"_I am yours._ Nothing and no-one will ever change that. They won't get me, Bella. I promise. If they so much as set foot in Washington, the pack will take them out. Just as I'm yours, you are mine, and we take care of our own little girl." I nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed. After seeing Jake and Paul fight, as humans no less, I had all the confidence that they could look after themselves, that didn't stop me worrying though.

"You have nothing to fear baby, I'll make sure you're safe." I blushed at the endearment, having not heard him say it before now. He chuckled, a low sexy sound which had me blushing even harder. His fingers brushed lightly against my cheek before dropping to the counter.

"Come on little girl. Eat this then we'll go back to bed." I damn near choked when he said it like that, which only made him laugh harder.

While eating my one sandwich I watched in disgusted awe as he put away nine in the same time it took me to eat the one. I raised a brow at him and he shrugged, claiming it to be a werewolf thing.

Nothing was said as he carried me back upstairs after we had finished our almost-midnight snack. He had taken my shoes off for me the first time I'd fallen asleep but I didn't really want to sleep in my clothes, so I quickly went to the bathroom to change into a long t-shirt and some sorts, for once not caring in the slightest that someone would be able to the bottom of my scars.

When Paul noticed what I was wearing he smiled and his eyes exuded pride. He ran his fingertips lightly across the uneven ridges and muttered something, smiling all the while. I climbed into the bed beside him and turned into his side. He kissed the top of my head at the same time I kissed the area over his heart and I giggled.

I'd known this man no more than four days, and he had already seen more than even Charlie had, and that wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be.

I felt safe.

**A/N: Well, there we go. So Charlie's gone for **_**AT LEAST THREE DAYS, **_**which means they will have some more time to themselves. I'd like to say thank you to 1HOPE2LOVE3PEACE4WEALLNEEDIT for threatening to kick my ass if I didn't get this chapter out soon. Thanks for the push in the right direction! See you guys soon xx**


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